LightPath Backlog Reaches Record $132.9 Million

The Tip Desk · November 11, 2026 · 4 min read

Revenue was $20.8 million in the fiscal 2027 first quarter, with assemblies and modules at 51% of sales and adjusted EBITDA at $1.3 million.

LightPath Technologies (LPTH), a provider of next-generation optics and imaging systems for defense and commercial applications, reported revenue of $20.8 million for the fiscal 2027 first quarter ended September 30, 2026, up 37.9% from $15.1 million a year earlier.

Sequential sales slipped from $21.2 million in the fiscal 2026 fourth quarter. The optics maker said new orders significantly outpaced shipments, lifting order backlog to a record of approximately $132.9 million as of September 30, 2026, up 20% from $110.9 million at June 30, 2026 and 54% from $86.0 million a year earlier. About $110.8 million of that backlog is requested by customers for delivery within the next twelve months.

President and Chief Executive Officer Sam Rubin said fiscal 2027 is off to a strong start, led by backlog as a key indicator of expected future revenue trends.

The mix of the business shifted toward higher-value products. Assemblies and modules revenue rose 76% to $10.5 million, or 51% of total revenue, from $6.0 million, or 40% of total, a year earlier, as G5 Infrared’s camera and module sales increased on surveillance and counter-unmanned aircraft system programs with global technology and defense customers. Infrared components revenue increased 15% to $4.7 million, including $1.1 million from Amorphous Materials after its January 2026 acquisition, partly offset by lower European defense sales. Visible components revenue increased 19% to $4.6 million. Engineering services revenue decreased 18% to $0.9 million.

Gross profit increased 91.9% to $8.6 million, or 41.4% of revenue, from $4.5 million, or 29.8% of revenue, a year earlier. The company said the more than 1,100 basis point expansion primarily reflects revenue mix, as assemblies and modules, which typically earn higher margins, grew to 51% of total revenue from 40% a year earlier.

Operating expenses rose 54.1% to $10.8 million from $7.0 million. The company said the increase primarily reflects $3.7 million of higher selling, general and administrative expenses — including $1.4 million of higher non-cash stock-based compensation, the addition of Amorphous Materials, and IT investments required by defense customers’ cybersecurity standards — along with a $1.2 million increase in new product development costs as it added engineering staff. Those increases were partially offset by a $1.1 million decrease in earnout fair value adjustments.

Net loss narrowed 41.2% to $1.7 million, or $0.02 a share, from $2.9 million, or $0.07 a share, a year earlier. The company said the improvement reflects higher gross profit, a lower earnout fair value adjustment and an increase in interest income. Adjusted EBITDA increased 252.1% to $1.3 million, or 6% of revenue, from $0.4 million, or 2% of revenue, a year earlier, the fifth consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA.

Cash and cash equivalents were $82.9 million at September 30, 2026, down from $93.2 million at June 30, 2026. The company said the change primarily reflects a $10.1 million investment in working capital, largely advance purchases of critical materials, and $2.5 million of capital expenditures, primarily to expand manufacturing capacity including glass fabrication. Inventories rose to $31.5 million from $18.0 million at June 30, 2026.

Rubin said the company invested ahead of scheduled deliveries, building inventory of critical materials and work-in-process and adding manufacturing capacity.

After the quarter, LightPath secured more than $30 million of follow-on C-UAS orders from July through October 2026, including more than $19 million of optical assembly orders from a leading C-UAS and defense systems supplier — double that customer’s total for all of fiscal 2026 — and an $11 million infrared camera order from a leading global technology customer. In October 2026 it received an order from a key defense customer for over 50,000 optical assemblies for drone camera systems.

The company also was awarded a funded prototype agreement under the Department of War’s CLEAR program to further develop BlackDiamond chalcogenide glass and optics as germanium alternatives for defense electro-optic and infrared systems. It completed the previously announced sale of its China subsidiary LightPath Optical Instrumentation (Zhenjiang) Co., Ltd. as of October 30, 2026, after which it said it no longer has facilities or operations based in China.

Rubin said the focus for the balance of fiscal 2027 is converting the backlog on schedule.