The takeaway
nLIGHT Inc shows a pronounced seasonal pattern over 8 years of data — strongest in May (+26.5%) and softest in April (+0.7%).
Right now
In July, the stock has risen 50% of years, averaging +1.9% — essentially in line with the S&P 500.
The full picture
nLIGHT Inc's most dependable month has been May, higher in 5 of 8 years; April has been its least reliable, up just 25% of the time.
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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| 2018 | — | — | — |
Month by month
The stock's clearest edge over the S&P 500 lands in May (+25.8 pts); it has trailed the market most in March (−9.1 pts).
“vs S&P” is nLIGHT Inc’s average for a month minus the S&P 500’s average for that same month — isolating nLIGHT Inc’s own seasonal edge from broad market drift.
Reality check
Over the last 5 years, May has closed higher 60% of the time versus 63% across the last 8 years — the pattern is weakening.
Figures are the typical (median) May return and how often it rose — the last 5 years versus the last 8(the heatmap’s default window). This verdict stays anchored to that 8-year window even if you zoom the chart, so it never disagrees with the badges above.
In plain English
There's a real but measured seasonal tilt here, toward May — the firmest corner of the calendar, higher in 5 of 8 Mays.
The strength looks broad-based rather than freakish: its average (+26.5%) and median (+27.0%) sit close together, so no single blow-out year is flattering the figure. That reliability comes with real swings, mind — even May ranges by 37.3% from year to year, so any single year can land far from the average. Better still, that strength is the stock's own and not just a buoyant market — May has outpaced the S&P 500 by +25.8 points on average.
Only June comes anywhere near it for reliability. On the other side of the ledger, April is the year's low point, though even there the stock has stayed positive on average (+0.7%), a sign every month leans up, and the edge isn't year-round — the stock has trailed the S&P 500 in March, February, and September. Its roughest month on record was a −36.0% March in 2020 — a reminder of how hard even a seasonal name can fall.
The pattern has softened of late, May's last five years slipping below its longer-run record.
Treat it as a tendency rather than a rule — seasonality describes the past, not a promise. With a short 8-year record and returns that swing hard year to year, the signal is best held loosely.
Short answers on the stock's best month (May), its worst (April), and whether it really trades seasonally.
Yes, to a pronounced degree. Since 2018 its best month (May, +26.5%) has run well ahead of its worst (April, +0.7%) — the heatmap above shows how steady that gap has been year to year.
May has been the strongest, averaging +26.5% and closing higher in 5 of 8 years since 2018.
It's the weakest month, but it has still averaged a small gain (+0.7%) — quiet rather than genuinely bad.
Explore
These names have the strongest July track records on record — a starting point for comparison.
Before you trade