FN vs COHR Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Fabrinet is a contract manufacturer that profits from volume and execution across the optical supply chain at relatively lower margins, while Coherent is a vertically integrated photonics and laser technology company with its own proprietary products and a direct strategic relationship with Nvidia. Investors typically weigh Fabrinet's steadier, lower-margin manufacturing model against Coherent's higher-margin, higher-profile AI optics growth story.
This comparison is best used to weigh a diversified, lower-margin optical contract manufacturer against a proprietary, higher-margin photonics company more directly levered to AI datacenter optics demand and its Nvidia relationship.
COHR holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. COHR has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+207.10% vs +24.64%), though FN has the better forward P/E setup (18.95x vs 20.02x for COHR). On fundamentals, FN is growing revenue faster (44.60%), while COHR maintains the higher operating margin (11.83%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for FN (+77.78%) than for COHR (+49.03%).
- Prefer a diversified, lower-margin manufacturing exposure to optical networking growth
- Value consistent profitability and disciplined capital allocation
- Are comfortable with customer concentration typical of contract manufacturing
- Want steadier, less volatile exposure to the optical supply chain
- Want proprietary, higher-margin exposure to AI datacenter optics
- Believe the Nvidia strategic relationship will continue supporting growth
- Are comfortable paying a premium valuation following a strong share price run
- Value a broader photonics and laser technology portfolio beyond pure transceivers
| Metric | FN | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 59.7 | 71.8 |
| AI rank | #151 | #30 |
| Latest close | $412.93 | $277.83 |
| 1M return | -5.16% | +5.68% |
| 6M return | -24.32% | -7.05% |
| 1Y return | +24.64% | +207.10% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | FN | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $12.3K (+23.0%) started 2025-09-02 | $31.64K (+216.4%) started 2025-09-02 |
| 5Y ago | $40.08K (+300.8%) started 2021-08-31 | $44.34K (+343.4%) started 2021-09-01 |
| 10Y ago | $106.37K (+963.7%) started 2016-08-31 | $129.77K (+1197.7%) started 2016-09-01 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | FN | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $14.8B | $54.68B |
| Trailing P/E | 31.64 | 67.60 |
| Forward P/E | 18.95 | 20.02 |
| Price/Sales | 3.19 | 12.17 |
| EV/Revenue | 3.01 | 7.95 |
| Analyst target | $734.11 | $416.09 |
| Target upside | +77.78% | +49.03% |
| Metric | FN | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 44.60% | 33.70% |
| Earnings growth | 58.10% | 27548.00% |
| EPS growth | +58.10% | +27548.00% |
| FCF margin | -1.25% | -9.13% |
| Operating margin | 10.23% | 11.83% |
| Profit margin | 10.19% | 11.31% |
| ROIC proxy | 21.33% | 7.98% |
| Return on equity | 21.33% | 7.98% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | N/A |
| Beta | 1.22 | 2.11 |
| Debt/equity | 0.16 | 31.61 |
| Current ratio | 2.25 | 2.43 |
| Quick ratio | 1.35 | 1.17 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | FN | COHR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +23.01% | +216.44% |
| CAGR | +23.16% | +218.60% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.60 | 1.75 | |
| Max drawdown | 44.68% | 47.98% | |
| Max daily drop | 19.38% | 14.24% | |
| Max wkly drop | 29.64% | 28.87% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +300.83% | +343.39% |
| CAGR | +32.01% | +34.72% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.70 | 0.72 | |
| Max drawdown | 44.68% | 62.87% | |
| Max daily drop | 21.91% | 29.87% | |
| Max wkly drop | 29.64% | 30.16% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +963.70% | +1197.66% |
| CAGR | +26.68% | +29.23% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.64 | 0.66 | |
| Max drawdown | 51.11% | 72.22% | |
| Max daily drop | 21.91% | 29.87% | |
| Max wkly drop | 29.64% | 32.69% |
| Category | FN | COHR |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Fabrinet | Coherent Corp |
| Sector | Electronic Manufacturing Services | Semiconductors / Photonics |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | Fabrinet provides advanced optical and electro-mechanical manufacturing services, producing optical transceivers and components for networking, datacenter, and other industrial customers. | Coherent designs and manufactures optical components, including transceivers, lasers, and co-packaged optics, serving AI data center, industrial, and communications end markets. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Fabrinet's datacom revenue growth, customer concentration, and capacity expansion supporting demand for 800G and 1.6T optical transceivers. | Investors track Coherent's datacenter and AI-related transceiver revenue growth, margin expansion following its restructuring, and its strategic partnership and investment from Nvidia. |
- Trusted manufacturing partner to many leading optical component companies
- Diversified end markets beyond pure AI datacenter demand
- Consistent profitability with disciplined capital allocation
- Broad, vertically integrated photonics and laser technology portfolio
- Strategic investment and supply relationship with Nvidia supporting AI datacenter demand
- Margin expansion story following a multi-year restructuring effort
- Lower gross margins typical of contract manufacturing versus proprietary product companies
- Revenue tied to a relatively small number of large optical customers
- Geographic concentration risk from Thailand-based manufacturing operations
- More complex, diversified business mix increases execution complexity
- Elevated valuation following its strong AI-driven share price run
- Competitive intensity in optical transceivers and co-packaged optics
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