Viavi Solutions Inc. (VIAV) Stock Price & How to Invest

VIAVI Solutions (NASDAQ: VIAV) makes test, monitoring, and assurance instruments plus optical technologies used to build and secure communications networks, data centers, and military, aerospace, and railway systems. It runs two segments: Network and Service Enablement (NSE), which sells lab and field test gear for fiber, 5G, and high-speed ethernet, and Optical Security and Performance Products (OSP), which supplies anti-counterfeiting pigments for currency and optical filters for consumer electronics and 3D sensing. The company also acquired high-speed ethernet testing assets from Spirent Communications and Inertial Labs in 2025 to deepen its data-center and position-navigation-timing exposure.

The investment picture in 2026 is a growth-and-cyclical-recovery story. After several soft years tied to weak carrier capital spending, revenue re-accelerated as AI infrastructure, hyperscale data centers, and aerospace-and-defense demand picked up, with the fiscal third quarter of 2026 (ended March 28, 2026) revenue up about 42.8 percent year over year. That has pushed the stock and its valuation up substantially, so the market is pricing in continued strength while the company still carries acquisition-related debt and a GAAP loss on a trailing basis. It pays no dividend.

VIAVI's revenue is cyclical and tied to network operator, hyperscaler, and government capital spending, any of which can pause. The stock has re-rated sharply, so a forward P/E in the low 40s (as of July 2026) leaves little room for a demand slowdown. The Spirent and Inertial Labs deals added debt, funded partly by a term loan and convertible notes, so integration missteps or higher rates would pressure the balance sheet even after recent prepayments. GAAP profitability has been negative on a trailing basis, and the OSP segment's program-based orders can swing quarter to quarter.

7 analysts publish price targets on VIAV, averaging $64.57 against a $36.95 price as of August 2026, or +74.7%. The published targets run from $60.00 to $70.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 7 buy, 1 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 8 raises and 0 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full VIAV forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Viavi Solutions Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. AI and data-center testing demand. The clearest driver is spending on AI infrastructure and hyperscale data centers, which need high-speed ethernet and optical test tools. The most optimistic published target, $70.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. VIAVI's revenue is cyclical and tied to network operator, hyperscaler, and government capital spending, any of which can pause. The most pessimistic target, $60.00, is roughly what VIAV is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on VIAV, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Viavi Solutions Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Market cap: ~$9.7B
• Revenue (TTM): ~$1.05B
• Q3 FY2026 revenue: ~$406.8M (+42.8% YoY)
• Q3 FY2026 non-GAAP EPS: ~$0.27
• Forward P/E: ~41x
• Dividend: ~$0 (none)

VIAVI's fiscal third quarter of 2026 (ended March 28, 2026) showed revenue of about $406.8 million, up roughly 42.8 percent year over year, with non-GAAP operating margin near 21 percent. Trailing GAAP earnings have been negative, so the headline valuation leans on forward non-GAAP estimates rather than trailing profits. Q4 FY2026 guidance called for revenue of about $427 million to $437 million.

If you want VIAV exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

Other names that sit close to VIAV: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get VIAV exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (IJR), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so VIAV sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where VIAV fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

VIAV is a real, profitable (on a non-GAAP basis) infrastructure-test business riding an AI and data-center tailwind, priced for continued double-digit growth after a strong 2026 run.

Whether VIAV is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is VIAV a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the VIAV stock forecast.

For income investors, whether VIAV pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does VIAV pay a dividend? And to weigh VIAV against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: VIAV vs RF and VIAV vs AAOI.