nLight Wins Laser Weapon Contract From US Department of Defense

nLight (LASR) has won a contract from the US Department of Defense to deliver high-energy laser weapon systems, supporting the agency's cruise missile defense architecture, the company said Thursday. The initial award is valued at $44 million, with a maximum value of $627 million, the company said. nLight will initially build prototypes rated at around 150 kW to address urgent operational demands and scale subsequent iterations to reach a 300 kW to 500 kW threshold for robust cruise missile defense, it said. Shares of the company were up 23% in Thursday afternoon trading. Price: $72.38, Change: $+13.70, Percent Change: +23.35%