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.
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 | +3.5% | -4.5% | -10.4% | +9.9% | -9.9% | +72.8% | +162.4% |
| vs S&P 500 | +2.9% | -5.0% | -11.0% | +5.0% | -11.2% | +51.9% | +126.5% |
1y · 2025-10-21 – 2026-10-21 · 252 / 252 sessions
Basket total returns · Annualized using 252 trading sessions · 0% risk-free rate and downside target. As of 2026-10-21 · close.
Sharpe: average daily simple return divided by its sample standard deviation, multiplied by √252. The risk-free rate is assumed to be 0%; this is not a cash-adjusted ratio.
Sortino: average daily simple return divided by downside deviation, multiplied by √252. Downside deviation is the square root of the average squared shortfall below 0%, counting all sessions, including zeros for gains.
Historical volatility: √(252 × average squared daily log return), matching the Vol page’s realized-volatility convention. This differs from the sample standard deviation used in Sharpe.
Each period requires complete history and at least 5 sessions. MTD and YTD follow the calendar; 1y is 252 sessions. Missing data or an undefined ratio displays — with a reason. Short periods can produce unstable ratios; intraday snapshots include a partial session. History before this basket’s creation is backtested. If a new basket has no stored daily return series yet, estimates from its rounded published chart levels are marked ≈.
Current members and the reasoning behind each inclusion. Returns are for individual holdings.
| Why it’s included | Added | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIENCiena Corporation | Optical transport systems and data-center interconnect | +5.7% | +0.5% | +1.5% | +54.5% | 2026-07-21 |
| LITELumentum Holdings Inc. | Datacom transceivers and the EML/VCSEL laser supply chain | +3.4% | -5.1% | -9.2% | +130.8% | 2026-07-21 |
| GLWCorning Inc. | Optical fiber and connectivity for the datacenter buildout | +2.0% | -4.2% | -12.7% | +54.9% | 2026-07-21 |
| COHRCoherent, Inc. | Largest merchant supplier of datacom optical transceivers | +2.5% | -9.8% | -21.0% | +28.7% | 2026-07-21 |
Equal-weighted; monthly rebalance, buy-and-hold between rebalances; dated membership changes reset the target weights.
Tracked since 2026-07-21. Membership decisions are documented below.
Read the methodology →Basket returns include dividends. “vs S&P 500” compares the basket’s compounded growth with the benchmark’s. Green means positive; red means negative.
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).