Shareholders of optical network stocks had a tough day last Thursday as Finisar’s (Nasdaq: FNSR) revenue and earnings miss hammered its stock price and depressed the entire sector. But even a really bad day shouldn’t scare off growth investors who can realize significant returns later this year when the optical component market starts to rebound.

Finisar shares fell more than 16% after the company missed analysts’ sales estimates. The chill spread quickly to other sector stocks — JDS Uniphase (Nasdaq:JDSU) fell nearly 6%, Ciena (Nasdaq:CIEN) and dropped nearly 5%.

When evaluating optical component stocks, many investors see more risk than reward.  After all, the industry has struggled with excess inventory and slower sales over the past several months, prompting companies to revise sales and earnings estimates downward.  But there is still opportunity in these stocks – and the price might be right now.

This sector isn’t for the faint of heart.  They are some of the most volatile names in the technology sector – and that’s saying a lot.  But unlike many emerging technology plays that are in the embryonic growth stage, these companies are proven telecom and data network component suppliers.  Here are four reasons to not look past optical component stocks:

1. The worldwide optical component market is expected to reach $31.3 billion by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts.  As carriers migrate away from copper to fiber optic networks, they will have to invest heavily in fiber-optic components.
2. Wireless companies are investing billions of dollars in their network infrastructure to build 4G, long-term evolution networks.  Optical component companies are poised to cash in on the boom.
3. Although growth rates for the market have slowed over the past few months, David Krozier, industry analyst at LightCounting, says equipment sales will accelerate later this year. The disaster in Japan took many communication component suppliers offline, disrupting the supply chain. But Krozier believes sales will rebound in a quarter or two once the supply chain disruptions have ended.
4. The market is still recovering from the recession, and there is pent-up demand for optical components needed to upgrade existing networks.

As of this writing, Susan J. Aluise did not hold an interest in any of the stocks mentioned here.