LPTH vs TDY: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: TDY is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. LPTH and TDY share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined LPTH and TDY exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

LightPath Technologies designs and manufactures precision optics, with a specialty in the infrared. Its historical business was molded aspheric lenses and infrared components built from proprietary BlackDiamond chalcogenide glass, sold to camera makers, industrial customers and defence primes from plants in Orlando, Latvia and China. Three acquisitions changed what the company sells: Visimid brought embedded thermal camera engineering, G5 Infrared (closed February 2025) brought high-performance cooled infrared camera systems with existing programs of record, and the Amorphous Materials asset purchase in January 2026 added chalcogenide glass melting capacity for large-diameter optics. The result is a vertically integrated supplier that owns the glass, the lens, the assembly and, increasingly, the finished camera, which is why assemblies and modules grew to ~$8.4M of the ~$19.1M reported in fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue.

Full LPTH guide

Teledyne Technologies is a diversified industrial-technology company that makes sophisticated sensing, imaging, instrumentation, and electronics products. Its portfolio spans digital imaging (including high-end industrial and scientific cameras, infrared and thermal sensors, and space and defense imaging, expanded by its acquisition of FLIR), aerospace and defense electronics, environmental and analytical instruments, and engineered systems. Teledyne makes money selling specialized hardware and instruments to demanding customers in defense, aerospace, industrial, scientific, medical, and environmental markets, where performance and reliability matter more than price. The company favors niche, high-barrier markets and grows both organically and through a steady stream of acquisitions, integrating them under a disciplined operating model. Its products often serve mission-critical applications, from machine vision on factory lines to sensors on spacecraft and military platforms. Headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, Teledyne serves a global customer base across many specialized end markets.

Full TDY guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• LPTH drivers: Germanium substitution is a materials moat, not just a product line; Backlog conversion and the shift from components to systems.
• TDY drivers: Digital imaging and FLIR; Diversification across resilient niches.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Valuation is the first-order risk: at roughly $950M to $1.0B of market value against ~$63M of trailing twelve-month revenue, the stock trades near 15x to 16x sales while still reporting a trailing net loss of about $23M, so the price already discounts several years of backlog conversion going right. For TDY, teledyne's industrial and instrumentation segments are exposed to manufacturing and capital-spending cycles, so a slowdown in global industrial activity can pressure orders.

Pick LPTH if you believe its drivers more; TDY if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the LPTH and TDY guides.

LPTH. LightPath runs a June fiscal year, so as of August 2026 the most recent reported period is fiscal third-quarter 2026, ended March 31, 2026, and fiscal fourth-quarter plus full-year fiscal 2026 results have not yet been published. Trailing twelve-month revenue of ~$63M therefore spans fiscal fourth-quarter 2025 (~$12.2M) plus the first nine months of fiscal 2026 (~$50.6M), against full fiscal 2025 revenue of ~$37.2M. Management has described a three-pillar strategy targeting in excess of $300M of annual revenue within five years, which is an ambition rather than guidance and sits far above both current revenue and current backlog.

TDY. Teledyne trades at a premium to average industrials, reflecting its diversified portfolio of high-barrier niche technologies, steady margins, and a long acquisition track record. The qualitative profile is a disciplined industrial-technology compounder with defense and imaging exposure. The premium multiple leaves it sensitive to industrial cycles and to the pace and pricing of future acquisitions.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): LPTH shows revenue (ttm) ~$63M, up ~87% year over year, latest quarter (fiscal q3 2026, ended march 31, 2026) revenue ~$19.1M, up ~109%; gross margin ~36%, order backlog ~$110.6M at March 31, 2026, up ~196% from ~$37.4M at June 30, 2025, profitability adjusted EBITDA ~$1.1M in fiscal Q3 2026 (third straight positive quarter); TTM net loss ~$23M; TDY shows revenue (ttm) ~$5.5 to 6 billion, revenue growth low-to-mid single digit organically, more with acquisitions, operating margin ~20% on an adjusted basis, largest segment digital imaging (including FLIR).

LPTH and TDY are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined LPTH and TDY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.