Coherent Corp. ($COHR)
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Key Business Moat: * Primary: Vertical Integration of Optical Materials. Coherent controls the entire value chain for Indium Phosphide (InP) and Silicon Carbide (SiC), which are essential for high-speed AI transceivers and electric vehicle power electronics.
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Alternative: Market Dominance in Precision Lasers. Leading market share in high-power industrial lasers used for OLED display manufacturing and semiconductor processing.
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Business Milestones:
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1971: Founded as II-VI Incorporated.
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2022: Acquired Coherent, Inc. for $7B and rebranded as Coherent Corp.
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2024: Appointed Jim Anderson as CEO to pivot the company toward higher-margin AI and semiconductor growth.
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CEO Profile: Jim Anderson
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Education: MBA and MS in EE/CS (MIT); MS in Electrical Engineering (Purdue); BS in Electrical Engineering (University of Minnesota).
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Career: Previously CEO of Lattice Semiconductor (where he tripled the stock price); former SVP/GM at AMD; executive roles at Intel and Broadcom.
