POET Technologies stock jumped 11% as semiconductor and optics companies gain momentum from analyst optimism around AI infrastructure demand.

What happened: POET Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:POET) share price rose 11.38 percent on Friday to close at $12.53, following bullish sentiment across semiconductor and optics sectors. Bank of America said the sector is set to benefit from rapid adoption of agentic AI (self-directing artificial intelligence systems), while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and investment firm Rosenblatt both backed the optics industry's importance to AI scaling.

Why it matters: If agentic AI becomes a major trend, it could drive demand for moving enormous amounts of data, which would strengthen the outlook for optics companies like POET. Nvidia's CEO specifically validated optics as essential infrastructure for scaling AI systems beyond current copper-based limits, lending credibility to the sector's growth thesis.

What to watch: Investment firm Rosenblatt expects key players in the optics sector to expand production capacities by approximately 12x through 2030 to support growing AI demands. This production expansion target indicates how significant the infrastructure buildout is expected to be.