New York, February 13, 2026, 17:48 EST — After-hours
- Astera Labs shares rose 2.2% to $129.32 in after-hours trading, after a choppy session.
- Investors are still weighing an Amazon-linked warrant tied to up to $6.5 billion of product purchases.
- Margin pressure and customer concentration risk are the key swing factors heading into next week.
Astera Labs Inc shares were up 2.2% at $129.32 in after-hours trading on Friday, after ranging from $122.59 to $133.24 earlier in the session.
The stock’s swings matter now because investors are trying to settle two questions at once: how durable the AI data-center buildout is, and what it costs Astera to lock in the biggest buyers. Margins, not revenue, are doing most of the talking.
Astera shares have fallen about 31% since Tuesday’s fourth-quarter report, with some investors pointing to a small margin step-down and higher spending. Zacks wrote that Astera’s non-GAAP gross margin slipped 70 basis points to 75.7% and operating margin eased to 40.2%; a basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. It also flagged competition in PCIe retimers — chips that help keep high-speed server connections stable — from groups including Marvell Technology, Broadcom and Credo Technology. (TradingView)
A regulatory filing this week showed Astera and Amazon.com signed a transaction agreement on Feb. 5 that gives an Amazon unit a warrant to buy up to 3,262,299 shares at $142.82 each, exercisable through Feb. 5, 2033. The shares vest as Amazon and its affiliates buy up to $6.5 billion of Astera smart fabric switch, signal conditioning and optical engine products; a warrant is a right to buy stock later at a set price. (Stock Titan)
That structure has sharpened the margin debate because warrant value can flow through as a commercial incentive. TD Cowen analyst Sean O’Loughlin said the Amazon arrangement could trim gross margin — the share of sales left after costs — by about 2 percentage points starting the second quarter of 2026, and raises customer concentration risk. (MarketWatch)
Astera said earlier this week fourth-quarter revenue rose to $270.6 million and non-GAAP profit was 58 cents a share, with non-GAAP gross margin at 75.7%. It forecast first-quarter revenue of $286 million to $297 million and non-GAAP EPS of $0.53 to $0.54, while guiding gross margin to about 74%, and said Desmond Lynch will take over as CFO on March 2 as Mike Tate moves to a strategic adviser role. Chief executive Jitendra Mohan said the company was “accelerating R&D investment.” (GlobeNewswire)
On Wednesday, the stock gapped down after Citigroup cut its price target to $250 from $275 while keeping a buy rating, MarketBeat reported. Astera opened at $160.76 after a prior close of $182.86, a reminder of how quickly the name can reprice after news. (MarketBeat)
With U.S. stock markets closed on Monday for Presidents Day, the next regular session is Tuesday, giving investors a long weekend to work through the Amazon filing and the margin math. (Nasdaq)
But the setup can still cut the other way. If customer demand or Amazon’s purchase pace disappoints, or if the warrant accounting weighs more heavily than expected, Astera could see another round of estimate cuts and a tougher conversation on profitability.
When trading resumes Tuesday, investors will watch whether ALAB steadies after the post-earnings slide, with March 2 — Lynch’s first day as CFO — the next hard date on the calendar.
