BUZZ — Barclays upgrades Soitec to 'overweight' on AI — photonics opportunity

* Barclays upgrades Soitec to "overweight" from "equal weight" and raises its PT by 82% to €200, saying the French semiconductor-wafer maker is being reshaped by demand for AI data centre networking * Barclays expects photonics to move from a niche product to Soitec's largest revenue stream this year, seeing the company as a "key enabler" for data centres' shift towards optical interconnects * The broker estimates photonics revenue will rise to $290 million in FY27 from about $100 million in FY26, and could account for 50% of the business by FY30 * It expects Edge and Cloud AI, including photonics, to generate about 90% of Soitec's revenue growth through the end of the decade, as mobile and automotive markets show no meaningful near-term growth * Out of 18 analysts that cover Soitec, eight rate the stock "strong buy"/"buy", ​seven "hold" and three​ "strong sell"/"sell" - LSEG data (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk) ((nathan.vifflin@thomsonreuters.com; gdansk.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 67 13;)