Lawsuits Pile Up at POET Technologies After a Single Day Wipes Out Nearly Half Its Value

POET Technologies battles US class-action lawsuits over alleged misleading disclosures after Marvell cancels a mega-order, causing a 47% stock crash and raising tax status concerns.

A cancelled mega-order and allegations of misleading disclosures have triggered a cascade of US class-action lawsuits against POET Technologies, leaving the semiconductor developer fighting to restore credibility with investors. The legal onslaught, led by firms including Pomerantz LLP, Rosen Law Firm, Block & Leviton, and Holzer & Holzer, centers on accusations that management misrepresented the company’s tax status and mishandled confidential information.

The turmoil traces back to April 23, when Marvell Semiconductor — following its acquisition of Celestial AI — terminated all purchase orders tied to POET's subsidiary. Marvell cited alleged breaches of confidentiality obligations. The market’s reaction was swift and severe: on April 27, POET’s stock cratered by roughly 47% in a single session, sliding from $15.10 to $7.95. Just days earlier, on April 24, the shares had touched $15.50.

A Second Front Opens

The collapse was compounded by a report from short-seller Wolfpack Research, which accused POET of obscuring its status as a Passive Foreign Investment Company under US tax law. The classification carries significant financial penalties for American shareholders who fail to report it correctly. The lawsuits, covering a class period from April 1 to April 27, allege that executives made false statements on both the tax issue and the Marvell relationship.

By April 30, the stock was attempting a tentative recovery, oscillating between $6.34 and $7.99 before closing at $6.60 — still roughly 44% below the prior week’s level. Trading volume that day reached nearly 71 million shares, slightly above average. Technicians are watching two key levels: support at $6.50 and resistance at $7.50. The stock now sits more than 15% below its 20-day moving average, while the MACD indicator points to waning upward momentum.

POET Fires Back With a Growth Narrative

Despite the legal storm, POET is not standing idle. The company has raised substantial capital in recent months — approximately $375 million from a fourth-quarter 2025 equity offering, supplemented by additional financings in early 2026, bringing total liquidity to around $430 million. These funds are earmarked for ramping production at its Malaysian facility, where POET aims to ship more than 30,000 optical engines this year, including 800G models starting in the third quarter.

Management is also addressing the tax headache head-on. A shareholder vote scheduled for June 26 will decide whether to relocate the corporate domicile to the United States. Meanwhile, affected investors have until June 29 to register as lead plaintiffs in the class actions.

POET points to a new customer order worth roughly $5 million as evidence of ongoing demand. But the company stops short of predicting a reconciliation with Marvell, acknowledging that restoring that relationship is not guaranteed. Whether the remaining client base can fill the void left by the cancelled deal will become clearer when first-quarter results are released on May 13. Analysts expect a loss of $0.05 per share, and the focus will be squarely on operational metrics — production timelines in Malaysia and fresh orders for the optical engines that must now carry the weight alone.