Nlight fell below issue after US$175m raise
Nlight shares plunged after raising an upsized US$175m from an overnight stock sale Tuesday as the laser maker expands manufacturing capacity, including that for defence applications.
Stifel, Baird, William Blair and Raymond James priced the sale of 4m shares at US$44, the bottom of the US$44–$45 marketing range and at a 12% discount to the US$49.98 last sale. The enlarged offering amounted to Nlight’s 7.3% stake.
Nlight shares dropped 12% to US$43.86 in Wednesday trading, below issue.
At launch, the laser maker flashed fourth-quarter expected revenue of US$78m–$80m, just above the US$76.7m analyst consensus and 65%–68% growth from the comparable year-ago quarter.
Nlight has benefited from increased spending on aerospace and defence. Its shares hit an all-time high of US$50.78 earlier in the Tuesday session after announcing it will showcase its new 70kW-class laser weapon system along with its 30kW and 10kW high-energy lasers at the upcoming Riyadh World Defense Show conference.