Exhibit 99.1

Coherent, Inc. Reports Third Fiscal Quarter Results

SANTA CLARA, CA, July 27, 2011 — Coherent, Inc. (NASDAQ, COHR), a world leader in providing photonics based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets, today announced financial results for its third fiscal quarter ended July 2, 2011.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

THIRD FISCAL QUARTER DETAILS

For the third fiscal quarter ended July 2, 2011, Coherent announced net sales of $210.9 million and net income, on a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, of $19.0 million, or $0.74 per diluted share.  These results compare to net sales of $166.7 million and net income of $14.4 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2010.  Non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 was $21.1 million, or $0.83 per diluted share.  Non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2010 was $16.8 million, or $0.66 per diluted share. For a complete overview of the differences between GAAP and non-GAAP results, please see the reconciliation table included at the end of our release.

Net sales for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 were $200.9 million and net income, on a GAAP basis, was $23.7 million, or $0.92 per diluted share.  Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2011 was $21.5 million, or $0.83 per diluted share.

Bookings received during the third fiscal quarter ended July 2, 2011 of $228.5 million increased 26.5% from $180.6 million in the same prior year period and decreased by 3.5% compared to bookings of $236.7 million in the immediately preceding quarter.  The book-to-bill ratio was 1.08, resulting in backlog of $368.7 million at July 2, 2011 compared to a backlog of $348.9 million at April 2, 2011 and a backlog of $230.2 million at July 3, 2010.

As of July 2, 2011, year-to-date sales were $594.9 million and net profit was $61.9 million ($2.42 per diluted share) on a GAAP basis compared to the prior year period sales of $438.7 million and a net profit on a GAAP basis of $27.1 million ($1.08 per diluted share).   Bookings received for the nine month period ended July 2, 2011 were $699.6 million, compared to $503.5 million in bookings received during the same period a year ago.

“Our third quarter yielded solid operating results and higher sequential orders in the materials processing, instrumentation and scientific markets.  While orders in microelectronics were lower following a record-setting second quarter, we did receive the largest order in the company’s history for approximately $77 million for current and next-generation excimer lasers to be used in flat panel display manufacturing.  We booked $22 million of this order in the third quarter.  The remainder will be booked over the next two quarters,” said John Ambroseo, Coherent’s President and Chief Executive Officer.  “Fulfillment of these FPD orders and the subsequent service revenues requires capacity expansion.  We are investing $25 million to add production space in Göttingen and establish an excimer tube refurbishment facility in Korea,” he added.

Coherent ended the quarter with cash and short term investments of $267.4 million, a decrease of $3.2 million from cash and short term investments of $270.6 million at April 2, 2011. During the quarter, we repurchased 285,600 shares of common stock.

CONFERENCE CALL REMINDER

The Company will host a conference call today to discuss its financial results at 1:30 P.M. Pacific (4:30 P.M. Eastern). A listen-only broadcast of the conference call can be accessed on the Company’s website at either http://www.coherent.com/Investors/ or http://www.earnings.com. For those who are not able to listen to the live broadcast, the call will be archived for approximately three months on both web sites.  A transcript of management’s prepared remarks can be found at http://www.coherent.com/Investors/.

Summarized statement of operations information is as follows (unaudited, in thousands except per share data):

(A)  Stock-related compensation expense included in operating results is summarized below (all footnote amounts are unaudited, in thousands, except per share data):

Stock-related compensation expense

For the quarters ended July 2, 2011, April 2, 2011, and July 3, 2010, the impact on net income, net of tax was $2,112 ($0.08 per diluted share), $2,312 ($0.09 per diluted share) and $1,590 ($0.06 per diluted share), respectively. For the nine months ended July 2, 2011 and July 3, 2010, the impact on net income, net of tax was $6,672 ($0.26 per diluted share) and $4,982 ($0.19 per diluted share), respectively.

(B)  Restructuring costs included in operating results are summarized below:

Restructuring costs

Restructuring costs for the quarters ended July 2, 2011 and April 2, 2011 and the nine months ended July 2, 2011 were not material to our results of operations and have not been broken out here or in our non-GAAP reconciliation. For the three and nine months ended July 3, 2010, the impact on net income, net of tax was $786 ($0.03 per diluted share) and $2,577 ($0.10 per diluted share), respectively.

(C)  The nine months ended July 3, 2010 includes $2,185 ($1,438 net of tax ($0.06 per diluted share)) net receipt from the settlement of litigation resulting from our internal stock option investigation.

(D)  Changes in deferred compensation plan liabilities are included in cost of sales and operating expenses while gains and losses on deferred compensation plan assets are included in other income (expense) net.  Deferred compensation expense (benefit) included in operating results is summarized below:

Deferred compensation expense (benefit)

For the quarters ended July 2, 2011, April 2, 2011 and July 3, 2010, the impact on other income (expense) net from gains or losses on deferred compensation plan assets was income of $216, income of $3,117 and expense of $341, respectively. For the nine months ended July 2, 2011 and July 3, 2010, the impact on other income (expense) net was income of $4,886 and net income of $819, respectively.

(E)  The nine months ended July 2, 2011 includes $5,918 ($6,113 net of tax ($0.24 per diluted share)) gain from the dissolution of our Finland operations, of which a charge of $593 is recorded in cost of sales and a benefit of $6,511 is recorded in other income (expense), net.

(F)  The nine months ended July 2, 2011 includes a $1,549 ($0.06 per diluted share) increase in valuation allowances against deferred tax assets.

Summarized balance sheet information is as follows (unaudited, in thousands):

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP net income (unaudited, in thousands except per share data, net of tax):

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined under the Federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include the statements in this press release that relate to the timing of booking of orders, timing, amount and use of capital investments. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks associated with any general market recovery, our successful implementation of our customer design wins, our and our customers’ exposure to risks associated with worldwide

economic conditions, the ability of our customers to forecast their own end markets, our ability to accurately forecast future periods, customer acceptance and adoption of our new product offerings, continued availability of products and materials from our suppliers, our ability to timely ship our products and our customers’ ability to accept such shipments, our ability to have our customers qualify our product offerings, and other risks identified in the Company’s SEC filings.  Readers are encouraged to refer to the risk disclosures and critical accounting policies and estimates described in the Company’s reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, as applicable and as filed from time-to-time by the Company.  Actual results, events and performance may differ materially from those presented herein.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a world leader in providing photonics based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets and part of the Russell 2000. Please direct any questions to Leen Simonet, Chief Financial Officer at 408-764-4161. For more information about Coherent, visit the Company’s Web site at http://www.coherent.com/ for product and financial updates.

5100 Patrick Henry Dr. · P. O. Box 54980, Santa Clara, California  95056—0980 · Telephone (408) 764-4000