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The Moat Index

NLIGHT, INC.

LASR · Technology · $3.5B mkt cap · FY2025 filings · No moat ·

Doesn't clear the bar

21/ 100
No moat

The four filters

Pricing power29

Median gross margin 27.6% over 10y, variable.

Returns on capital7

Median ROIC -15.9%, above the 9% hurdle in 20% of years.

Balance-sheet safety28

Net debt/EBITDA n/ax, interest coverage -24x.

Capital discipline24

Owner earnings trend unclear, share count growing (dilution).

Margin of safety

Above valueOn sale
No price data
Owner earnings (normalized)
—
Est. intrinsic value / share
—
Recent price
$69.25
Discount to value
No price data

Conservative model: 9% discount rate, 0% assumed growth (capped at 4%), maintenance capex ≈ min(capex, D&A).

11 years of fundamentals

The business, in plain English

NLIGHT, INC. booked $261.3M of revenue in FY2025 in the Technology sector and kept 29.8% of it as gross profit — a moderate-margin business by that measure. After every other cost, −9.0% of each revenue dollar reached the bottom line.

Across the filed record, revenue grew from $101.3M (FY2016) to $261.3M (FY2025) — about 11.1% a year compounded over 9 years.

It earned −16.4% on invested capital in FY2025, with a median of −15.9% across 10 filed years. The Returns on Capital filter above scores it 7/100.

The balance sheet carried $0 of total debt in FY2021. Balance-Sheet Safety scores it 28/100.

The share count rose 1617.5% between FY2017 and FY2025 — existing owners have been diluted over the record. Capital Discipline scores it 24/100.

Put together: Pricing Power is the strongest of the four filters (29/100) and Returns on Capital the weakest (7/100), which is how LASR lands at 21/100 — a None moat.

This breakdown is generated from the filed numbers and sub-scores above — no outside narrative, no estimates. Where a filing doesn’t disclose an input, the sentence that would need it is omitted instead of guessed.

FY2015–FY2025 · 11 fiscal years, normalized from LASR’s SEC filings

RevenueSales, as filed$261.3M FY2025
$0$100M$200M2015201920232025
Gross marginRevenue kept after cost of goods29.8% FY2025
0%20%2015201920232025
Return on invested capitalOperating profit on the capital employed−16.4% FY2025
−50%0%2015201920232025
Owner earningsCash an owner could take out−$32.5M FY2025
−$50M$02015201920232025

Gaps in a line mean that item isn’t in LASR’s filings for that year — the series is never interpolated or estimated. The Table view lists every filed value, including operating and net margins, total debt, and share count.

Moat Score history

3 logged readings since Jul 17, 2026 · append-only, never rewritten

Moat Score over timeLast scored reading of each day, on the 0–100 scale21.1 / 100
0406080100WideNarrowShallowNo moatJul 17, 2026

Score history begins Jul 17, 2026 — the record builds from here and can’t be backfilled.

Tier changesSame-methodology crossings of the Wide / Narrow / Shallow bars

None yet — LASR has read No moat for every logged capture since Jul 17, 2026.

Scores are logged append-only and never overwritten — this record can’t be backfilled, which is exactly why it’s worth keeping.

Technology context

#479 of 532 scored Technology companies, ranked by Moat Score.

Nearest peers by Moat Score

  1. #477DHTI DALRADA TECHNOLOGY GROUP, INC.21.6No moat
  2. #478DUOT Duos Technologies Group, Inc.21.5No moat
  3. #480KUST KUSTOM ENTERTAINMENT, INC.20.7No moat
  4. #481SMRT SmartRent, Inc.20.7No moat

Compare LASR with its nearest peers →All Technology companies on the Index →

Common questions about LASR

Does NLIGHT, INC. have an economic moat?
Based on its FY2025 SEC filings, the Moat Index scores NLIGHT, INC. (LASR) 21.1 out of 100 — below the Shallow-moat bar, so no moat. The four filters behind that score (each 0–100): pricing power 29, returns on capital 7, balance-sheet safety 28, capital discipline 24.
How has LASR's Moat Score changed over time?
The record logs 3 readings since Jul 17, 2026; the latest reads 21.1 out of 100 (no moat). No tier changes on record yet. The history is append-only — readings are only ever added, never rewritten.
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Scored from primary SEC filings via the public methodology. Educational only — not a recommendation to buy or sell LASR. See the disclaimer.

NLIGHT, INC. (LASR) Moat Score — The Moat Index · Buy Like Buffett