It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Astera Labs, Inc. (ALAB Quick QuoteALAB - Free Report) . Shares have added about 70% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Astera Labs, Inc. due for a pullback? Well, first let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the recent catalysts for Astera Labs, Inc. before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late.

Astera Labs Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y

Astera Labs reported first-quarter 2026 non-GAAP earnings of 61 cents per share, up 84.8% year over year. The results beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.66%.

Revenues totaled $308 million, up 93.4% from the year-ago quarter and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.42%. Results reflected robust demand tied to the company’s PCIe 6 connectivity portfolios, which contributed more than one-third of total revenue in the quarter.

ALAB Posts Broad-Based Growth Across Core Portfolios

ALAB’s top line increased 14% sequentially, supported by strength across signal conditioning and switch fabric offerings that enable both scale-up and scale-out connectivity in AI platforms. Management highlighted continued diversification, with multiple customers and product categories contributing to growth.

PCIe Gen 6 momentum remained a central theme. The company noted it has shipped millions of PCIe Gen 6 ports to date, underscoring both portfolio maturity and the pace of adoption as AI infrastructure transitions to higher-speed interconnect standards.

Astera Labs Deepens Scorpio Lineup for AI Fabrics

Astera Labs emphasized progress in its Scorpio family, with Scorpio X-Series products beginning to ship in initial production volumes during the quarter. Management expects Scorpio X-Series shipments to rise in the second quarter, alongside initial shipments of the newly announced 320-lane Scorpio X device, before ramping up to full volume production in the second half of 2026.

The company also expanded the Scorpio P-Series PCIe 6 switch family to span 32 to 320 lanes. Leadership positioned the broader Scorpio portfolio as a platform for higher-value AI fabric deployments, citing features such as Hypercast and in-network compute aimed at improving collective operations and reducing networking overhead in large-scale training and inference workloads.

ALAB’s Operating Details

Non-GAAP gross margin was 76.4% in the first quarter, expanding 150 basis points year over year, primarily due to a lower mix of hardware sales within the signal conditioning portfolio. This result points to solid underlying profitability despite the ongoing product ramp and expanding portfolio.

Research and development expenses surged 94.6% year over year to $125.6 million. Sales and marketing expenses increased 0.9% year over year to $21.9 million. General and administrative expenses increased 17.9% year over year to $25.8 million.

The non-GAAP operating margin was 36.2% compared with 33.7% in the year-ago quarter.

Astera Labs Maintains Strong Liquidity and Operating Cash

As of March 31, 2026, cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $1.18 billion.

Cash flow from operations was $74.6 million in the first quarter.

ALAB Posts 2Q26 Guidance

For the second quarter of 2026, ALAB expects revenues between $355 million and $365 million, implying 15% to 18% sequential growth. The outlook is driven by the continued adoption of PCIe 6 across AI platforms, rising Taurus volumes for AI scale-out connectivity and a sustained early-stage ramp-up of Scorpio X-Series products for large-scale XPU clustering.

Non-GAAP gross margin is expected to be approximately 73%, including an estimated 200-basis-point noncash impact tied to a recently executed warrant agreement with a customer. 

The company expects non-GAAP operating expenses in the range of $128 million-$131 million, with non-GAAP diluted earnings projected to be between 68 cents and 70 cents per share.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

In the past month, investors have witnessed a upward trend in fresh estimates.

The consensus estimate has shifted 30.62% due to these changes.

VGM Scores

Currently, Astera Labs, Inc. has a strong Growth Score of A, though it is lagging a lot on the Momentum Score front with a C. However, the stock was allocated a grade of F on the value side, putting it in the lowest quintile for value investors.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Outlook

Estimates have been trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. Interestingly, Astera Labs, Inc. has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.

Performance of an Industry Player

Astera Labs, Inc. is part of the Zacks Internet - Software industry. Over the past month, F5 Networks (FFIV Quick QuoteFFIV - Free Report) , a stock from the same industry, has gained 19%. The company reported its results for the quarter ended March 2026 more than a month ago.

F5 reported revenues of $811.7 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +11%. EPS of $3.90 for the same period compares with $3.42 a year ago.

F5 is expected to post earnings of $3.98 per share for the current quarter, representing a year-over-year change of -4.3%. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate remained unchanged.

The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for F5. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of D.