Optical networking stocks were rebounding Wednesday after the brutal artificial-intelligence trade selloff earlier this week. Some of them were bouncing back a bit higher than others.

Lumentum stock was up 6.7% to $895.20 in midday trading Wednesday and was the session's best performer in the S&P 500. Coherent stock wasn't far behind, advancing 5.6% to $286.42.

One stock was noticeably trailing peers: Corning. Shares of the maker of networking and glass products were up only 1.6% at $145.89.

Optical networking companies have become a major part of the AI trade as the data-center buildout has boosted demand for the fiber-optic cables that transit data. That means these sector stocks are at the whim of AI sentiment: When that sentiment shifts downward, shares will suffer, as has happened repeatedly in recent months.

On Monday, Corning was the big loser in the S&P 500 after Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in the development of AI. Corning stock was trading slightly below its 200-day moving average on Wednesday and remained down 12% on the week.

Lumentum and Coherent have fared far better. Shares of Lumentum snapped a three-day losing streak on Tuesday before investors pushed them to the top of the S&P 500 on Wednesday. Coherent, similarly, rose 1.8% on Tuesday and kept advancing Wednesday. Lumentum and Coherent are nonetheless down 2.5% and 5.4%, respectively, this week.

One of the reasons Corning was chasing peers might have nothing at all to do with the AI trade. In a regulatory filing late Friday, the company said it had entered into an equity distribution agreement with Goldman Sachs to issue up to $2 billion of new stock. Mizuho Securities on Monday noted the plan appeared to be a way to generate cash as the company looks to complete major projects.