The $20+ Billion Silent AI Explosion: Why NVIDIA’s Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) Will Make These 5 Tiny Stocks 10x — While Wall Street Sleeps
Outlier Capital
· Outlier Capital
· April 20, 2026 at 22:43
· ⏱ 5 min read
| Read on Substack ↗
Summary
The article argues that Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) is the next major AI infrastructure trend, enabling NVIDIA's gigawatt-scale AI factories by reducing power consumption and increasing reliability. The author highlights five small-cap stocks positioned to benefit from CPO adoption, but only vaguely states being long 'some' of them without specifying which, so no actionable trade ideas can be extracted.
•CPO integrates optical engines directly onto switch ASICs, drastically reducing power per link and improving reliability over traditional pluggable transceivers.
•CPO penetration in AI data center optics is forecast to surge from near-zero to over 35% by 2030, with the dedicated market exceeding $20 billion by 2036.
•NVIDIA's Quantum-X and Spectrum-X CPO switches are ramping in 2026–2027, driven by hyperscaler demand for energy-efficient networking.
•The author lists five high-conviction CPO plays: POET Technologies, Lightwave Logic, LuxNet, PCL Technologies, and Elite Advanced Laser Corp., each with unique positioning in the optical supply chain.
•The author states they are currently long 'some' of these stocks but does not specify which ones, and directs readers to check their profile for the full portfolio.
•The broader thesis is that these picks-and-shovels plays offer 10x potential as the AI infrastructure boom enters its most explosive phase.