Key Highlights
- Shares of POET Technologies plunged more than 44% during Monday’s trading session following Marvell’s cancellation of Celestial AI purchase agreements
- Marvell terminated the orders due to alleged violations of confidentiality agreements
- The company’s CFO disclosed sensitive order information during a public interview, prompting the breach allegations
- Shares had jumped 76% during the previous week following the initial order announcement
- POET maintains an active $5 million purchase agreement with another technology partner
Shares of POET Technologies experienced a dramatic decline Monday following Marvell Semiconductor’s decision to terminate purchase agreements through its Celestial AI division.
On April 23, Marvell delivered formal written notification of the termination. The semiconductor company pointed to unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information regarding purchase agreements and shipping arrangements as grounds for cancellation.
The situation originated when POET’s Chief Financial Officer publicly discussed the Marvell agreement during an interview. Marvell maintained that these statements breached confidentiality terms established within the contract.
The terminated agreements encompassed initial production units that POET had originally revealed in April 2023.
The cancellation came at a particularly unfortunate moment. POET shares had climbed approximately 76% during the week preceding the announcement, reaching levels near the 52-week peak of $15.50.
The previous week brought significant volatility to the stock. The original order disclosure pushed prices upward. A sharp pullback occurred the following day as market participants locked in gains, though shares rebounded Friday to finish the week with positive momentum.
Monday’s selloff wiped away most of those recent advances. POET declined 44.37% during the session, with trading volume hitting roughly 94 million shares. This figure dwarfed the three-month average daily volume of approximately 10.52 million shares.
Company Highlights Remaining Business Opportunities
Despite the termination, POET directed attention toward other ongoing commercial activities. The company reaffirmed a purchase agreement worth approximately $5 million with a different technology partner.
POET emphasized it “remains focused on executing its strategic priorities and advancing product development within the AI and optical networking markets to meet increasing demand.”
Following Monday’s significant decline, POET shares still maintained a 27.8% gain for the year and showed approximately 250% growth over the trailing twelve months.
Short seller Wolfpack Research has established a position against the stock. The research firm initiated a short position while highlighting potential tax compliance concerns for U.S. shareholders. Wolfpack additionally questioned POET’s history of strategic direction changes and characterized the company as engaging in “stock promotion.”
Existing Partnership Agreements Remain Active
Several collaborations continue moving forward. POET recently unveiled a partnership with Lessengers focused on developing a 1.6T optical transceiver module designed for AI clusters and hyperscale data center applications.
This joint effort combines POET’s Optical Interposer platform with Lessengers’ Direct Optical Wiring capabilities.
POET has additionally formed an agreement with LITEON Technology for collaborative development of optical communication modules serving AI networks and data center infrastructure. This partnership emphasizes the integration of optical components and electronics utilizing POET’s interposer technology.
Marvell’s shares also experienced downward pressure during the session, falling 5.77%.
POET indicated its ongoing commitment to completing deliveries for its existing customer base.
