This Artificial Intelligence (AI) Semiconductor Company Has a $146 Billion Opportunity That No One Is Talking About. Here's Why the Stock Still Isn't a Buy.

The article argues that soaring AI data workloads are creating a large market opportunity for optical interconnects — projected to grow from roughly $2 billion today to $146 billion by 2040 — but warns that small specialist Poet Technologies is not yet a compelling investment. Poet’s Optical Interposer and partnerships (Lite-On co-development; a $50M Lumilens purchase order with potential cumulative orders >$500M) highlight technical promise, with prototypes due late 2026 and volume production targeted in 2027. However, the piece cautions that Poet’s $2.7B market cap is rich relative to $1.1M in trailing sales and faces entrenched competitors (Broadcom, Cisco, Marvell, laser suppliers funded by Nvidia). Conclusion: meaningful secular tailwinds exist for AI photonics, but Poet’s early-stage commercialization and valuation risk make it a watchlist name rather than a buy today — a cautious (bearish) view on the smaller player’s stock prospects.