Coherent Grants $100M in Performance Stock Units to CEO and Top Executives
COHR has more than doubled off its 52-week low of $85.941.
Summary
Coherent granted $100 million in performance stock units to CEO James Anderson and four other executives, with vesting tied to aggressive stock price growth targets and a five-year lock-up.
Key Events · Executive and Board Changes · COHR
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Special PSU Awards to Leadership Team
CEO James Anderson received a $50M target award; CFO Sherri Luther, CTO Julie Eng, and CSLO Rob Beard each received $15M; CSCO Jeffrey Place received $5M. Total target value is $100M.
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Aggressive Stock Price Hurdles
Vesting requires 60-day average stock prices of $454.43 (50% of target), $542.86 (100%), $643.61 (150%), or $757.77 (200%) — representing 10% to 25% compound annual growth from the grant date.
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Relative TSR Requirement
No tranche vests unless Coherent's total shareholder return exceeds the 50th percentile of the S&P Composite 1500 Electronic Equipment, Instruments & Components Index at the time the price hurdle is met.
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Five-Year Lock-Up
Awards vest only after the four-year performance period ends, followed by an additional one-year holding period. Executives cannot trade any earned shares until five years after grant.
Analysis · COHR · Industrial Applications And Services
Coherent's board approved special performance stock unit awards totaling $100 million in target value for five senior executives, including a $50 million award for CEO James Anderson. The awards are entirely performance-based, vesting only if the stock price reaches aggressive hurdles — from $454.43 (10% CAGR) up to $757.77 (25% CAGR) — while also beating the median total shareholder return of the S&P Composite 1500 Electronic Equipment index. With the stock currently at $278.96, the lowest hurdle requires a 63% gain sustained over 60 consecutive days, and the top tier requires a 172% gain. The design is shareholder-aligned: no payout unless both absolute and relative performance tests are met, and shares are locked up for five years. This is a retention tool aimed at keeping the leadership team through 2030 as Coherent capitalizes on AI infrastructure demand, but it also signals the board's confidence that the stock can more than double from current levels.
How filings like this one have moved
In the 30 days to Sep 12, 2026, 29.9% of the 1944 measured filings Wiseek scored 7 moved their stock by 5% or more by the next session's close. The median move was -0.15%. These are measured outcomes after filings of this importance, not a forecast for this one.
Measured one observation per ticker per day, after exclusions. Current figures: Filing Impact Tracker · open dataset
At the time of this filing, COHR was trading at $278.96 on NYSE in the Industrial Applications And Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $54.7B. The 52-week trading range was $85.94 to $440.00. This filing was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10.