What Does Amphenol Offer That Coherent Does Not?
Coherent (COHR) and Amphenol (APH) both sell connections inside AI data centers, but Coherent relies on that business more. Data center and communications made 79% of Coherent’s latest quarterly revenue. At Amphenol, sales from IT datacom made up 43% of Q2 2026 sales, and communications networks another 11%. At 68.6 times the past twelve months of profit, Coherent’s price makes sense only if its orders become sales and cash. So what does Amphenol offer you that Coherent does not?
Amphenol Says It Sees No Broad Supply Bottleneck
Amphenol says supply is not broadly holding back its growth. On the Q2 2026 call, management said Amphenol sees no broad bottlenecks limiting what it can deliver. Amphenol’s Q2 2026 sales were $8.8 billion, up 55% from a year earlier. Amphenol beat the top of its own sales forecast. Amphenol then gave its first forecast for Q3 2026: sales of $9.3 billion to $9.4 billion.
Coherent’s update was a different kind of news, about orders still waiting to be filled. Management said fiscal 2027 is basically booked out. Coherent forecast fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $2.2 billion to $2.4 billion.
Coherent can ship those orders only as fast as it adds capacity. Management named indium phosphide capacity as the main constraint. So far Coherent’s capacity build is ahead of plan. In August, Coherent said it was on track to double its internal indium phosphide output capacity from a year earlier by the end of fiscal Q1 2027. Coherent is spending heavily on that new capacity now, before the orders turn into sales.
Is Coherent Getting Cash Back From Its Spending Yet?
Not yet. Coherent’s operating cash flow, the cash its business brings in before capacity spending, was $0.1 billion over the past twelve months. That compares with $0.8 billion of net income. Coherent’s spending is climbing at the same time. In fiscal Q4 2026, Coherent spent $556 million, mostly on new capacity, up from $290 million the quarter before. Amphenol brought in $5.9 billion of operating cash flow over the past twelve months, against $5.1 billion of net income.
Coherent does have protection while it spends. Management said its long-term customer agreements run to the end of the decade, some with minimum demand guarantees. It also said investments in its data center business pay back in roughly 18 months.
Amphenol’s growth has a different cost. Amphenol buys companies, including CommScope. So far, Coherent’s profits have not shown up as cash, while Amphenol’s already do.
Amphenol Leads On Valuation, Reported Growth And Margins
Amphenol costs 40.5 times its past twelve months of profit, well below Coherent’s 68.6 times. Amphenol’s revenue grew 54% over the past twelve months, against 23% at Coherent. Amphenol’s operating margin, the share of sales left after running costs, was 28%, against 12.7% at Coherent.
The growth figures include deals on both sides. Stripping them out, on each company’s own measure, Coherent grew faster in the latest quarter. Amphenol’s Q2 2026 sales rose 30% organically, meaning without the companies it bought. Coherent sold two businesses during fiscal 2026. Without them, its fiscal Q4 2026 revenue rose 42% from a year earlier, against 34% as reported.
Coherent carries less debt for its size: 6.4% of its market value, against 9.0% for Amphenol. But if Coherent’s new capacity comes late or its cash stays thin, you hold the costlier stock with the thinner margin.
What Would Narrow Coherent’s Gap With Amphenol?
Coherent would need to turn its new capacity into cash, not just booked orders. Today the evidence favors Amphenol on valuation, reported growth and margins. Coherent is better on debt for its size. Coherent is also the more concentrated bet, with more of its sales from data center and communications markets.
Management said Coherent’s indium phosphide output capacity is on track to double from a year earlier, ahead of plan. Coherent’s cash is the weaker part. Watch its operating cash flow in the fiscal 2027 quarterly reports, starting with fiscal Q1 2027. If that cash climbs toward Coherent’s net income, the gap with Amphenol would narrow. Coherent’s higher multiple would also be easier to justify. Until then, Amphenol shows more of its growth in sales and cash already in hand.
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