04:57 PM EDT, 08/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- POET Technologies Inc. ( POET ) was last seen down 2.65% in US after-hours trade on Wednesday as it reported a wider second-quarter loss on non-recurring engineering revenue (NRE) even as it talked up its prospects on delivering AI-related services to global entities going forward.

The company said it lost US$8.0 million, or $0.14 per share, in the period, compared with a loss of $4.4 million, or $0.11, in the year-prior quarter.

It said the loss included research and development costs of $2.1 million compared to $2.0 million for the same period in 2023.

"Fluctuations in R&D for a company of this size and this stage of growth are expected on a period-over-period basis as the company transitions from technology development to product development," it added.

POET recognized other income, including interest of $175,000 in the quarter, compared to $57,000 a year earlier.

POET's NRE fell to nil in the quarter, compared to $177,000 a year earlier.

Among recent business highlights, POET cited a "major" design win with Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) to supply 800G and 1.6T optical engines for FIT pluggable modules. FIT's parent, Foxconn, is the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer and a major supplier of components and assemblies.

Also, Luxshare Tech, a preferred supplier to Apple, announced that it is expanding its portfolio of optical modules targeted at AI networks using POET's optical engines.

"We are gratified to have been chosen to supply our advanced high-speed integrated optical engine chips to two of the world's largest producers of electronic and photonic components and systems serving the leading AI networks and AI network service providers," said chief executive Suresh Venkatesan, in a statement.

During the second quarter, Venkatesan also noted, the company raised $15 million in equity capital in two non-brokered private placements with two institutional investors. He said: "By raising the amount of capital that we have in the past few months, we have significantly lowered the risk to achieving sustainable revenues."

POET shares closed up $0.16 to $3.65 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.