X platform analyst Serenity has named AAOI, SIVE, FOCI, and Shunsin Technology as preferred AI photonics stocks, while placing X-FAB on an alternate list. The call is built around what Serenity describes as a “Chokepoint Theory,” arguing that each company controls a critical part of the data-center optical communications stack. On May 27, the day Serenity posted about X-FAB, the stock jumped as much as 76% intraday.
AAOI is framed as a US optical module capacity story
Among the names highlighted, AAOI, or Applied Optoelectronics, is described as one of the few optical module makers completing the full chain from laser manufacturing to module assembly in the United States. The source lists the stock at about $169 with a market value near $5.6 billion, up roughly 11 times from $15 over the past year. Serenity’s projection puts AAOI monthly revenue at around $471 million by 2027.
Capacity expansion is central to that view. The company is upgrading wafer production in Texas from 4-inch to 6-inch lines, lifting capacity by 3.5x. A new 211,000-square-foot facility is expected to begin production in Q3 or Q4 of 2026. The source also says AAOI posted $151.1 million in revenue for Q1 2026, up 51% year over year, while data-center product revenue doubled to $81.4 million. Full-year guidance was revised to more than $1.1 billion.
SIVE, or Sivers Semiconductors, was presented as another beneficiary of photonics demand. According to the article, its revenue pipeline is up about 77% from historical levels and is projected to reach roughly $799 million. Most of that increase is tied to photonics, where gross margin could reach 60%.
FOCI and Shunsin are tied to FAU and packaging test work
FOCI is described as a key supplier of FAU, or fiber array units, within the COUPE architecture associated with NVIDIA and TSMC. FAU components align optical fibers with silicon photonics chips, making them a core part of the optical engine. Serenity argues that FOCI’s ReLFACon product is compatible with both grating couplers and edge couplers, and that 1.6T and 3.2T FAU products are expected to enter mass production in the second half of 2026. The company’s market capitalization is cited at about $2.8 billion.
Shunsin Technology is presented as a packaging and testing name that the market has not fully priced in. The company, a Foxconn subsidiary, has a market value of around $2 billion, and its share price rose 19% over the past week. Serenity says Shunsin is handling a large amount of NVIDIA CPO and photonics-related packaging and testing work, with some contracts signed through subsidiaries.
The source says Shunsin posted NT$7.53 billion in 2025 revenue, up 45% year over year, while net profit came in at only NT$27.5 million. Gross margin in its traditional OSAT business was listed at about 15%. Serenity’s view is that CPO and 1.6T orders could lift blended gross margin to around 30% to 35%.
X-FAB is the alternate pick tied to power and silicon photonics
X-FAB was included as an alternate name, with a market capitalization of about $1.28 billion. The company operates as a European silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) foundry, and also runs the silicon photonics brand photonixFAB. The bullish case in the source rests on two themes: NVIDIA’s push toward 800V DC data-center power architecture, and possible support for the silicon photonics supply chain under a future European Chips Act 2.0.
The article adds that X-FAB has already received €128 million under the EU Chips Act and $50 million from the US Chips Act. The source closes by stating that these are Serenity’s personal opinions and do not constitute investment advice.