Optical Interconnect
The optical layer of the AI buildout: datacom transceivers, the lasers and photonic components inside them, optical transport and data-center interconnect, and the fiber it all runs on. Every networking generation pushes optics deeper into the rack, so unit growth compounds even when GPU spend plateaus — the volume trade next to Memory & Storage's price trade.
Performance
Follow the theme against the wider market.
Series before each basket's creation date are a backtest of the membership as of creation; live tracking starts at creation.
| Return | 1 day | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days | MTD | YTD | 1 year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basket | +4.3% | -2.2% | -15.1% | -19.5% | -2.7% | +101.6% | +251.3% |
| vs FW 3000 | +4.6% | -2.4% | -14.7% | -24.3% | -3.2% | +77.8% | +195.0% |
Inside the basket · 7 stocks
Current members and the reasoning behind each inclusion. Returns are for individual stocks.
| Why it’s included | Added | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LITE | Datacom transceivers and the EML/VCSEL laser supply chain | +4.0% | -1.5% | -1.0% | +139.1% | 2026-07-21 |
| GLW | Optical fiber and connectivity for the datacenter buildout | +5.7% | +3.8% | -6.7% | +77.5% | 2026-07-21 |
| VIAV | Optical network test & measurement for the 800G/1.6T rollout | +3.7% | -4.6% | -10.9% | +95.6% | 2026-07-21 |
| MTSI | Photonic and RF semis: TIAs, drivers and laser components for optical modules | +3.5% | +1.4% | -13.5% | +57.0% | 2026-07-21 |
| CIEN | Optical transport systems and data-center interconnect | +1.1% | -15.2% | -22.2% | +37.3% | 2026-07-21 |
| AAOI | Hyperscaler transceivers — the high-beta end of the optics trade | +5.1% | -0.7% | -22.2% | +202.7% | 2026-07-21 |
| COHR | Largest merchant supplier of datacom optical transceivers | +6.6% | +1.0% | -25.7% | +52.7% | 2026-07-21 |
How this basket is built
Equal-weighted, monthly-rebalanced, buy-and-hold between rebalances; dated membership changes take effect same-day.
Tracked since 2026-07-21. Membership decisions are documented below.
Read the methodology →Reading the returns
Basket returns include dividends. “vs FW 3000” compares the basket’s compounded growth with the benchmark’s. Green means positive; red means negative.
Membership history & changes
- create
Split out of the combined Optics & Memory basket on its creation day, before it shipped a live series (see the Memory & Storage changelog for the mirror entry). Members and rationales carried over unchanged — COHR, LITE, CIEN, GLW, plus AAOI, MTSI and VIAV in the FW 3000. No reference pinned: no listed fund approximates the optical chain (SMH holds none of the module makers). Standing exclusions carry over: FN and CRDO (offshore-domiciled, outside the FW 3000), ALAB and MRVL (interconnect/custom-silicon stories covered in ai-leaders), IPGP (industrial lasers, wrong end market).