Europe’s best-performing stock of 2026 rides AI photonics wave

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Apr. 23, 2026 –

Photonics optimism lifts shares sharply, yet heavy reliance on struggling smartphone market tempers long-term outlook.

By Julien Ponthus, Bloomberg 

A clamour by investors for stocks that stand to benefit from the boom in artificial intelligence has propelled a little‑known French company to the top of Europe’s 2026 equity rankings.

Soitec SA, a semiconductor materials maker with a market capitalisation of about €3.1 billion ($3.7 billion), is the top performer in a Bloomberg index of the region’s large, mid and small-cap stocks with a gain of almost 270% this year. It’s up 66% this month and analysts are raising price targets.

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