LIVE
CRDO
Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd · Technology
$271.83
+60.86% this month
VERSUS
⟷
COMPARE
LITE
Lumentum Holdings Inc. · Technology
$850.00
-4.50% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
CRDO
1
LITE
3
Comparison scoreboard
LITE LEADS 3/5AI Score
CRDO 61.1
LITE ✓85.0
1Y Return
CRDO +217.60%
LITE ✓+860.89%
Fwd P/E
CRDO ✓31.28
LITE 50.83
Target Up.
CRDO -5.71%
LITE ✓+20.59%
Op. Margin
CRDO N/A
LITE 21.77%
Metrics last refreshed: 6/20/2026
Quick take
CRDO vs LITE Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Credo Technology and Lumentum both address AI data center connectivity but through different technologies and end-market mixes. Credo is a pure-play AI AEC/SerDes company at an early commercial stage; Lumentum is a diversified photonics company with data center transceivers as one of several revenue streams alongside 3D sensing and telecom optics. Credo offers more concentrated AI connectivity upside; Lumentum offers more diversification.
CRDO vs LITE is a choice between concentrated AI cluster electrical connectivity (Credo's AEC) and diversified optical photonics exposure (Lumentum's VCSELs, transceivers, coherent) — Credo has higher revenue growth momentum from AI cluster intra-rack, while Lumentum has broader photonics applications reducing single-theme risk.
Live analysis · updated 6/20/2026
LITE holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. LITE has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+860.89% vs +217.60%), though CRDO trades at the lower forward P/E (31.28x vs 50.83x). Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for LITE (+20.59%) than for CRDO (-5.71%).
Normalized 1Y performance
CRDO
LITE
Recent returns
CRDO
LITE
Analyst price targets & sentiment
CRDO · 18 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Strong Buy (1.3/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$184.00
analyst high$300.00
analyst mean$256.30
current price$271.83
-5.7% upside to analyst mean
LITE · 24 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.6/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$600.00
analyst high$1,400.00
analyst mean$1,111.29
current price$850.00
+20.6% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
CRDO may suit investors who:
- →prefer a pure-play AI data center interconnect company with concentrated AEC and SerDes licensing revenue
- →value the HiWire AEC's cost and power advantages over optical alternatives at AI GPU cluster intra-rack distances
- →want high revenue growth potential from an early-stage hyperscaler AI interconnect winner
- →are comfortable with single-customer concentration and the risks of a single-technology thesis
LITE may suit investors who:
- →prefer diversified photonics exposure across data center transceivers, 3D sensing, and telecom coherent optics
- →value VCSEL leadership in both AI data center and Apple iPhone 3D sensing as dual growth drivers
- →want optical components exposure with revenue diversification across multiple end markets
- →are comfortable with Apple iPhone cycle concentration in the 3D sensing segment and optical ASP pressure
Performance & AI score
| Metric | CRDO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 61.1 | 85.0 |
| AI rank | #142 | #3 |
| Latest close | $271.83 | $850.00 |
| 1M return | +60.86% | -4.50% |
| 6M return | +102.66% | +165.42% |
| 1Y return | +217.60% | +860.89% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CRDO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $31.76K (+217.6%) started 2025-06-18 | $96.09K (+860.9%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $233.33K (+2233.3%) started 2022-01-27 | $106.22K (+962.2%) started 2021-06-18 |
| 10Y ago | $233.33K (+2233.3%) started 2022-01-27 | $341.5K (+3315.0%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | CRDO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $50.69B | $71.7B |
| Trailing P/E | 108.30 | 161.39 |
| Forward P/E | 31.28 | 50.83 |
| Price/Sales | 37.97 | 40.44 |
| EV/Revenue | 32.34 | 26.61 |
| Analyst target | $256.30 | $1,111.29 |
| Target upside | -5.71% | +20.59% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | CRDO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 157.00% | 90.10% |
| Earnings growth | 343.20% | N/A |
| EPS growth | +343.20% | N/A |
| FCF margin | +18.79% | +3.75% |
| Operating margin | N/A | 21.77% |
| Profit margin | 35.37% | 17.68% |
| ROIC proxy | 34.41% | 22.83% |
| Return on equity | 34.41% | 22.83% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | N/A |
| Beta | 3.23 | 1.48 |
| Debt/equity | 1.23 | 111.44 |
| Current ratio | 10.15 | 1.14 |
| Quick ratio | 8.51 | 0.94 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
CRDO max drawdown53.59%
LITE max drawdown28.70%
CRDO max wkly drop25.66%
LITE max wkly drop20.33%
5Y risk snapshot
CRDO max drawdown62.04%
LITE max drawdown66.48%
CRDO max wkly drop51.50%
LITE max wkly drop24.54%
10Y risk snapshot
CRDO max drawdown62.04%
LITE max drawdown66.89%
CRDO max wkly drop51.50%
LITE max wkly drop31.75%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | CRDO | LITE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +217.60% | +860.89% |
| CAGR | +217.85% | +862.38% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.73 | 3.00 | |
| Max drawdown | 53.59% | 28.70% | |
| Max daily drop | 14.81% | 14.19% | |
| Max wkly drop | 25.66% | 20.33% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +2233.30% | +962.23% |
| CAGR | +104.98% | +60.43% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.24 | 1.02 | |
| Max drawdown | 62.04% | 66.48% | |
| Max daily drop | 46.80% | 22.46% | |
| Max wkly drop | 51.50% | 24.54% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +2233.30% | +3315.03% |
| CAGR | +104.98% | +42.38% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.24 | 0.83 | |
| Max drawdown | 62.04% | 66.89% | |
| Max daily drop | 46.80% | 32.98% | |
| Max wkly drop | 51.50% | 31.75% |
Business comparison
| Category | CRDO | LITE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd | Lumentum Holdings Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | Credo Technology designs SerDes ICs and HiWire active electrical cable (AEC) assemblies for hyperscale AI data center intra-rack connectivity. Its AEC technology competes against active optical cables at shorter reach distances by offering lower power and cost. Design wins at Microsoft Azure have driven rapid revenue growth. Credo is fabless with SerDes IP licensing providing recurring high-margin revenue. | Lumentum is a photonics and optical components company producing vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), optical transceivers, coherent optical modules, and laser equipment for 3D sensing and industrial applications. Its data center interconnect products serve hyperscalers with 400G and 800G optical transceivers. Lumentum also has a significant 3D sensing laser business for consumer electronics (Face ID-type applications in mobile devices) that provides revenue diversification. |
| Investor focus | Investors track hyperscaler customer diversification beyond Microsoft, design-win announcements for 800G and 1.6T solutions, AEC volume ramp, and gross margin trajectory as production scales. | Investors track data center transceiver revenue as AI infrastructure deployments accelerate, 3D sensing laser revenue tied to Apple iPhone face recognition demand, and gross margin trends as coherent optical module mix changes. |
CRDO strengths
- →HiWire AEC validated at scale in Microsoft Azure GPU cluster deployments
- →SerDes IP licensing provides recurring high-margin revenue alongside AEC product sales
- →Fabless model with concentrated AI interconnect focus enables deep customer integration
LITE strengths
- →Leading VCSEL technology for 3D sensing and data center optical transceivers
- →Diversified revenue across data center interconnect, telecom coherent optics, and 3D sensing consumer applications
- →Coherent optical module portfolio serves the telecom network capacity build-out alongside data center growth
Risks to watch — CRDO
- →Single dominant customer (Microsoft) creates material revenue concentration risk
- →Lumentum and Coherent's optical transceivers compete against AEC at longer intra-cluster distances
- →Technology transition to co-packaged optics could reduce AEC demand at high port speeds
Risks to watch — LITE
- →3D sensing revenue is highly concentrated in Apple iPhone new product cycles, creating lumpy demand
- →Optical transceiver ASP compression as VCSEL and silicon photonics production scales across multiple vendors
- →Coherent Corp and II-VI background competition directly targets Lumentum's optical transceiver market segments
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