# How Lumentum (LITE) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/lite
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on LITE alone. It places LITE (Lumentum Holdings Inc.) against 18 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where LITE stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: LITE's full trading record, from July 2015 through September 2026. The crash tests reach back to 2000 using older funds and the S&P 500. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** LITE is 27.4% below its high, bear-market territory, while the S&P 500 sits 1.3% below a record. Over the past 6 months, LITE fell 8.1% while the S&P 500 rose 9.1%.
- **Stock or market?:** LITE rose 7.4% over the past 3 months, in line with the technology sector ETF XLK (State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF), which rose 5.7%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** LITE has run far ahead of the market, rising 411% over the past year against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100. The same gap shows up over 3 years (2,029% against 89.3%). LITE finished ahead of the S&P 500 in both 2024 and 2025.
- **Long term:** LITE turned $10,000 into $200,000 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. LITE's 10-year return of 1,904% puts it ahead of 98% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** LITE fell harder than the S&P 500 in three of four sell-offs. The Covid crash was the exception: LITE fell 28.7%, less than the S&P 500's 33.7%.
- **Diversification:** Over 10 years, LITE's beta versus the S&P 500 was 1.24: in the S&P 500's rising months it gained 1.6 times as much as the index, and in falling months it lost 1.0 times as much. Against the S&P 500, LITE has a correlation of 0.37 over 5 years, less closely than 55% of stocks worth at least $300 million. Next to an index fund it is some diversification, but not a hedge.
- **Better options**
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** MU (Micron Technology, semiconductors) and CLS (Celestica, electronics manufacturing) earned more than LITE with less volatility over the past 5 years. MU returned 68.1% a year at 57.1% volatility, against 57.3% a year at 64.5%.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only 12 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than LITE with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them MU (Micron Technology), FIX (Comfort Systems USA) and CLS (Celestica).

## How much would $10,000 in LITE have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in LITE over the past 11 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of LITE over the same span and LITE's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in LITE at the end of September 2015 would have grown to $572,995 by September 2026, more than the $47,605 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of LITE, and NVDA finished highest, at $3,837,604.

## LITE at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- LITE is still 27.4% below its all-time high.
- LITE's deepest decline since it began trading in 2015 was 66.9%, from January 2021 to October 2023. It took 21 months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over ten full calendar years, LITE's best was 2025, when it returned 339%, and its worst was 2022, when it lost 50.7%. It lost money in two of those years.

- Type: Stock, Technology (Communication Equipment)
- Trading since: July 23, 2015
- Market value: $75B
- Volatility (5 years): 64.5%; Sharpe ratio: 1.03
- Worst decline ever: −66.9%, from January 12, 2021 to October 27, 2023; back at its high by July 29, 2025

| Period | LITE total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −13.8% |
| 3 months | +7.4% |
| 6 months | −8.1% |
| year to date | +113% |
| 1 year | +411% |
| 3 years | +2,029% |
| 5 years | +863% |
| 10 years | +1,904% |

## LITE against the whole market

Where LITE ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does LITE rank among all stocks?

This section ranks LITE on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- LITE's 3-year return ranks in the top 1% of the 3,017 stocks worth at least $300 million with 3 years of history.
- LITE is among the more volatile stocks: its price swings rank in the bottom 17% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million, where the top is the calmest.

| Measure | LITE | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +411% | 9 of 3,287 (top 1%) |
| 3-year return | +2,029% | 3 of 3,017 (top 1%) |
| 5-year return | +863% | 23 of 2,893 (top 1%) |
| 10-year return | +1,904% | 40 of 2,202 (top 2%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 64.5% | 2,392 of 2,893 (top 83%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 1.03 | 84 of 2,893 (top 3%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −66.9% | 1,175 of 2,187 (top 54%) |

### What has beaten LITE on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 12 stocks worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than LITE over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is fewer than 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half LITE's swings, CLS has the best return for its risk: 101% a year at 59.7% volatility, 7% less than LITE's 64.5%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.47 against 1.03 for LITE.
- None of LITE's popular alternatives made it, but CLS (electronics manufacturing) did: 101% a year at 59.7% volatility, 7% less than LITE's 64.5%.

### Is there a better investment than LITE?

The table below lists investments that beat LITE over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, MU (semiconductors) and CLS (electronics manufacturing) earned more than LITE with less volatility over the past 5 years. MU returned 68.1% a year at 57.1% volatility, against 57.3% a year at 64.5%.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only 12 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than LITE with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them MU, FIX and CLS.

The 12 strongest of 12 investments that beat LITE over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with LITE | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LITE: Lumentum Holdings Inc. (this page) |  | +57.3% | 64.5% | 1.03 | −66.9% | +1,904% |  |  |
| [FIX](https://easycompare.io/research/fix): Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | Engineering & Construction | +77.0% | 46.7% | 1.46 | −49.7% | +5,305% | 0.37 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [MU](https://easycompare.io/research/mu): Micron Technology, Inc. | Semiconductors | +68.1% | 57.1% | 1.20 | −57.6% | +5,243% | 0.28 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| BWLP: BW LPG Limited | Marine Shipping | +60.3% | 50.9% | 1.19 | −68.8% | +2,672% | 0.06 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| STRL: Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. | Engineering & Construction | +78.4% | 60.0% | 1.26 | −59.6% | +5,213% | 0.22 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| ATI: ATI Inc. | Metals & Mining | +61.8% | 42.9% | 1.34 | −82.4% | +929% | 0.32 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| CRS: Carpenter Technology Corporation | Metals & Mining | +63.9% | 46.5% | 1.30 | −74.7% | +1,021% | 0.24 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| [CLS](https://easycompare.io/research/cls): Celestica Inc. | Electronics Manufacturing | +101% | 59.7% | 1.47 | −80.6% | +2,771% | 0.28 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| BELFB: Bel Fuse Inc. | Hardware, Equipment & Parts | +78.0% | 52.1% | 1.37 | −79.8% | +872% | 0.34 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| YPF: YPF Sociedad Anónima | Integrated Oil & Gas | +60.7% | 54.1% | 1.14 | −90.1% | +173% | 0.09 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| IESC: IES Holdings, Inc. | Engineering & Construction | +58.5% | 58.0% | 1.09 | −54.3% | +2,943% | 0.43 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| VIST: Vista Energy, S.A.B. de C.V. | Exploration & Production | +59.1% | 50.7% | 1.17 | −81.2% | — | -0.08 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| ADMA: ADMA Biologics, Inc. | Biotechnology | +58.9% | 59.2% | 1.08 | −84.1% | +81.1% | 0.04 | Higher return, lower volatility |

## LITE against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against LITE, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do LITE's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only NVDA was both more rewarding and calmer than LITE over the past 5 years, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 5 years, LITE returned 57.3% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (64.5% against 17.1%).

### Has LITE consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares LITE with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- None of the 18 popular alternatives outperformed LITE in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes. The closest was NVDA.
- NVDA, AVGO and ANET earned more for the risk they took than LITE (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in their worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of LITE | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LITE: Lumentum Holdings Inc. (this page) | +411% | +2,029% | +863% | +1,904% |  |  | 1.03 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | +18.8% | +425% | +884% | +13,019% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.14 |
| [ANET](https://easycompare.io/research/anet): Arista Networks, Inc. | +23.7% | +289% | +634% | +3,439% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.06 |
| [AVGO](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo): Broadcom Inc. | −3.5% | +305% | +617% | +2,380% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 1.11 |
| AAOI: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. | +125% | +1,011% | +936% | +270% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.97 |
| [MRVL](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl): Marvell Technology, Inc. | +181% | +390% | +264% | +1,874% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.72 |
| MTSI: MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. | +87.4% | +249% | +302% | +588% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.83 |
| [CSCO](https://easycompare.io/research/csco): Cisco Systems, Inc. | +53.8% | +118% | +118% | +374% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.73 |
| [CIEN](https://easycompare.io/research/cien): Ciena Corporation | +97.5% | +721% | +546% | +1,600% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.97 |
| FN: Fabrinet | −12.8% | +121% | +260% | +732% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.74 |
| CALX: Calix, Inc. | −40.0% | −16.6% | −35.1% | +435% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.07 |
| VIAV: Viavi Solutions Inc. | +164% | +359% | +127% | +376% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.58 |
| [EQIX](https://easycompare.io/research/eqix): Equinix, Inc. | +22.2% | +49.1% | +37.4% | +226% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.37 |
| IPGP: IPG Photonics Corporation | −16.9% | −21.8% | −55.8% | −12.8% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.10 |
| ADTN: ADTRAN Holdings Inc. | −28.3% | −8.7% | −61.3% | −59.8% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | -0.05 |
| [COHR](https://easycompare.io/research/cohr): Coherent, Inc. | +92.8% | +648% | +295% | +795% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.75 |
| [GLW](https://easycompare.io/research/glw): Corning Inc | +56.6% | +419% | +292% | +616% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.86 |
| [NOK](https://easycompare.io/research/nok): Nokia Oyj | +60.8% | +211% | +72.8% | +123% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| POET: POET Technologies Inc. | −26.7% | +89.8% | −35.3% | +29.3% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.44 |

### How did LITE do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2016, along with where LITE ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- LITE finished ahead of the S&P 500 in six of its ten full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, ANET came out ahead of LITE most often, in seven of the ten years both traded.
- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, LITE finished in the top quarter in three of ten years and in the bottom quarter in one. In 2025, it ranked 1 of 19.

| Year | LITE | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +339% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +60.2% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +0.5% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −50.7% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +11.6% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +19.6% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +88.8% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −14.1% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +26.5% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +75.5% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How LITE has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were LITE's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of LITE's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: LITE fell 66.9% from January 2021 to October 2023, while the S&P 500 rose 12.9%.
- The longest climb back to a previous high took 21 months, after LITE fell 66.9% from January 2021 to October 2023.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −66.9% | January 12, 2021 | October 27, 2023 | July 29, 2025 | +12.9% | 2022 bear market |
| −48.8% | March 14, 2018 | November 12, 2018 | November 27, 2019 | +0.3% | late-2018 sell-off |
| −42.8% | May 11, 2026 | July 29, 2026 | October 2, 2026 | −1.1% |  |
| −39.8% | August 3, 2015 | October 19, 2015 | February 5, 2016 | −2.6% | 2015 China and oil sell-off |
| −37.3% | July 24, 2017 | February 5, 2018 | March 9, 2018 | +8.0% | February 2018 volatility shock |

### How did LITE do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far LITE, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- LITE fell further than the S&P 500 in four of the six crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when LITE fell 34.1% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.
- Among its popular alternatives, AVGO held up best, falling less than LITE in five of the six crashes they both traded through.
- LITE began trading after the 2008 financial crisis, but 11 of its popular alternatives lived through it. The mildest fall among them was ADTN's 52.3%, against 55.2% for the S&P 500.

| Crash | Dates | LITE fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | not trading | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | not trading | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | not trading | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | not trading | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −34.1% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −5.0% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −40.1% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −28.7% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −36.3% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −6.5% | −3.4% |

### How closely does LITE move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- Over the past 10 years, LITE captured 162% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 101% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.24. It amplified the market's moves in both directions.
- AVGO took just 86% of the S&P 500's losses, against 101% for LITE, while still keeping 158% of its gains.
- Four of the 18 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than LITE's 1.61, led by CIEN, ANET and AVGO.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LITE: Lumentum Holdings Inc. (this page) | 162% | 101% | 1.24 |
| [NVDA](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda): NVIDIA Corporation | 248% | 140% | 1.83 |
| [ANET](https://easycompare.io/research/anet): Arista Networks, Inc. | 174% | 91.0% | 1.40 |
| [AVGO](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo): Broadcom Inc. | 158% | 86.0% | 1.19 |
| AAOI: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. | 169% | 221% | 2.83 |
| [MRVL](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl): Marvell Technology, Inc. | 167% | 116% | 1.68 |
| MTSI: MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. | 148% | 157% | 1.93 |
| [CSCO](https://easycompare.io/research/csco): Cisco Systems, Inc. | 101% | 96.0% | 0.97 |
| [CIEN](https://easycompare.io/research/cien): Ciena Corporation | 129% | 64.0% | 1.07 |
| FN: Fabrinet | 115% | 72.0% | 1.12 |
| CALX: Calix, Inc. | 96.0% | 85.0% | 1.40 |
| VIAV: Viavi Solutions Inc. | 98.0% | 76.0% | 0.97 |
| [EQIX](https://easycompare.io/research/eqix): Equinix, Inc. | 76.0% | 66.0% | 0.67 |
| IPGP: IPG Photonics Corporation | 65.0% | 130% | 1.15 |
| ADTN: ADTRAN Holdings Inc. | 47.0% | 150% | 1.46 |
| [COHR](https://easycompare.io/research/cohr): Coherent, Inc. | 162% | 146% | 1.80 |
| [GLW](https://easycompare.io/research/glw): Corning Inc | 107% | 67.0% | 1.14 |
| [NOK](https://easycompare.io/research/nok): Nokia Oyj | 63.0% | 72.0% | 1.01 |
| POET: POET Technologies Inc. | 62.0% | 108% | 0.81 |

### What diversifies LITE?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in LITE into MPC would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+63.3% for LITE alone, +64.9% for the mix).
- FIX made money in two of the two calendar years in which LITE lost money.
- Among large ETFs, LVHI, DXJ and EMLP have moved largely independently of LITE over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.40 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.

| Investment | Correlation with LITE | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in LITE's 2 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LVHI: Franklin International Low Volatility High Dividend Index ETF | 0.32 | +119% | 11.1% | 1.48 | 1 of 2 |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.35 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 1 of 2 |
| EMLP: First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure Fund | 0.40 | +101% | 14.5% | 1.04 | 1 of 2 |
| HDV: iShares Core High Dividend ETF | 0.30 | +83.3% | 13.0% | 1.00 | 1 of 2 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.32 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 0 of 2 |
| DBEF: Xtrackers MSCI EAFE Hedged Equity ETF | 0.30 | +85.0% | 13.8% | 0.96 | 0 of 2 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.18 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 0 of 2 |
| SPMO: Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF | 0.30 | +136% | 20.8% | 0.93 | 0 of 2 |

## Common questions

### What was LITE's worst drawdown?

LITE's deepest decline since it began trading in 2015 was 66.9%, from January 2021 to October 2023. It took 21 months from the low to climb back to its old high. Because LITE launched in July 2015, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or two other sell-offs.

### What were LITE's best and worst years?

Over ten full calendar years, LITE's best year was 2025, when it returned 339%. Its worst was 2022, with a return of -50.7%.

### Is there a better investment than LITE?

Looking beyond its popular alternatives, MU (semiconductors) and CLS (electronics manufacturing) earned more than LITE with less volatility over the past 5 years. MU returned 68.1% a year at 57.1% volatility, against 57.3% a year at 64.5%. Few investments have done better on both counts: only 12 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than LITE with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them MU, FIX and CLS.

### Is LITE more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. LITE's volatility over the past 5 years was 64.5%, 3.8 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, LITE's return lands within 64.5% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is LITE's Sharpe ratio?

LITE's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 1.03, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so LITE earned more for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is LITE with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, LITE's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.37 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They are only loosely linked, which makes it a real diversifier next to an index fund. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against LITE instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a LITE holding.

### What are the best alternatives to LITE?

None of the 18 popular alternatives we compared outperformed LITE in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, which says more about LITE's strength than about its alternatives.

### Did LITE outperform the S&P 500?

LITE finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in six of ten full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +339%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did LITE do in stock market crashes?

LITE fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in two of the six major crashes it has traded through, and further in four. The clearest case was the 2015 China and oil sell-off, when LITE fell 34.1% and the S&P 500 fell 12.8%.

### What diversifies LITE?

These had a low correlation with LITE over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, LVHI (correlation 0.32), DXJ (correlation 0.35) and EMLP (correlation 0.40); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.22), CLS (correlation 0.28) and FIX (correlation 0.37). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Arista Networks (ANET) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/anet)
- [Broadcom (AVGO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/avgo)
- [Marvell Technology (MRVL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mrvl)
- [Cisco Systems (CSCO) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/csco)
- [Ciena (CIEN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cien)
- [Equinix (EQIX) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/eqix)
- [Coherent (COHR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cohr)
- [Corning (GLW) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/glw)
- [Nokia Oyj (NOK) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nok)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/lite
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against LITE live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=LITE&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research