Night Market Research disclosed on Friday that it has taken a short position in POET Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:POET), accusing the optical chip maker of embellishing partnership relationships and providing an overly optimistic timeline for product commercialization.
According to Night Market, the relationship between POET and Celestial AI appears to have lapsed years ago, in direct contrast to recent disclosures by POET. The research firm says a Senior Director of Product Management at Celestial AI told Night Market that POET has not been discussed internally since 2023, a detail the report highlights as evidence that public statements from POET do not reflect the current status of that alleged collaboration.
POET itself disclosed on April 27 that Marvell Technology had canceled product orders effective April 23, characterizing the cancellation as related to disclosure concerns. POET attributed the action to purported breaches of confidentiality agreements, the company said in that disclosure.
Night Market said its reporting effort included conversations with executives representing seven entities that POET lists as partners. The firm met these executives at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC) 2026 in Los Angeles in March. Among the named companies were Foxconn, Luxshare, Mitsubishi, Adtran, and Semtech.
Specific accounts cited by Night Market include a Foxconn executive who reportedly said Foxconn stopped using POET’s products two years ago. Two product development executives from Luxshare said they had never heard of POET, the report said. An Adtran executive told Night Market that POET’s technology figures into a single Adtran transceiver and that the unit remains in technical testing rather than being in broad commercial use.
In May, POET announced a supply agreement with Lumilens that included an initial purchase order valued at $50 million and language indicating potential orders exceeding $500 million over five years. Night Market raised questions about that arrangement, noting that Lumilens acquired Rain Tree Photonics seven weeks before placing the order with POET. Citing Singapore filings, Night Market reported that Rain Tree generated $800,000 in revenue over a three-year period while its assets declined from $12.7 million in 2023 to $3.2 million by 2025.
The report further notes links between Lumilens and Accton, reporting that Lumilens CEO Ankur Singla serves on Accton’s board and that Accton invested $9 million into Lumilens in April 2025. Night Market suggested that the undisclosed $5 million customer POET announced in October 2025 may be Accton or Accton’s subsidiary GoldiLink, though it presented this as a possibility rather than a confirmed fact.
Night Market also examined recent corporate finance and operational details. The firm pointed out that POET raised roughly $400 million in a recent capital raise and that POET issued 2.3 million warrants to Lumilens, which Night Market estimated are now worth more than $30 million.
Additional partner conversations and public statements cited in the report add to Night Market’s concerns. During LITEON’s earnings presentation on April 29, LITEON’s President reportedly said "there isn’t actual business between us" when asked about POET. Meanwhile, POET’s joint venture with Xiamen Sanan Integrated Circuit reportedly ended in November 2024 after Sanan contributed $7 million of a planned $25 million, with POET agreeing to pay Sanan $6.5 million over five years as part of the dissolution.
Night Market said it visited POET’s Toronto headquarters and observed largely vacant space. The firm also quoted a former Rockley Photonics engineer who described POET’s technology as "a solution looking for a problem." The report references Rockley’s own experience developing similar technology and filing for bankruptcy in 2023 as contextual background noted by the former employee.
Tracing POET’s corporate history, Night Market described the company as originating in the semiconductor division of Opel Solar and promoting its optical interposer technology publicly since 2013. Using its analysis of POET’s filings, Night Market reported that the company has recorded $1.2 million in chip revenue since 2018.
Collectively, Night Market’s disclosures paint a picture of strained or dormant partner relationships, contested commercial progress, and operational indicators that the research firm says are at odds with POET’s public statements. POET’s stock reaction and investor response to the report were not included in Night Market’s findings as presented in the firm’s disclosure.