Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Seven brokerages give AAOI an average rating of "Hold" (1 sell, 3 hold, 3 buy) with a 12‑month consensus price target of $52.80.
• Quarterly results: AAOI reported revenue of $134.27M and EPS of ($0.01), both beating estimates and revenue was up 33.9% year‑over‑year, but the company remains unprofitable and guided Q1 to -$0.090–$0.000 EPS.
• Market action and insider activity: Shares opened at $180.57 (12‑month range $12.56–$191.87) with a $14.45B market cap and notable volatility; insiders sold about 314,333 shares (~$29.3M) in the past 90 days while institutions own 61.7% of the stock.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.80.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAOI. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of AAOI opened at $180.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a PE ratio of -277.80 and a beta of 3.76. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $115.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.63. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $12.56 and a twelve month high of $191.87.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, Director Cynthia Delaney sold 21,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,058,420.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 116,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,392,080.44. This trade represents a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 102,347 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.76, for a total transaction of $9,800,748.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,965,282.48. The trade was a 83.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 314,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,262,106. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cinctive Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $800,000. Diker Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $519,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,624,570 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $119,915,000 after purchasing an additional 551,910 shares during the period. AI Squared Management Ltd bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,043,000. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.70% of the company's stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc develops and manufactures high-speed fiber-optic networking products designed to support the growing bandwidth demands of data centers, telecommunications carriers and internet content providers. The company's core offerings include pluggable optical transceiver modules, transponders and optical components that enable data transmission at rates ranging from 1G to 400G. These products are used to facilitate long-haul, metro and intra-data center connectivity, addressing the need for scalable, low-latency and energy-efficient solutions in modern network infrastructures.

The company's product portfolio spans small-form factor pluggable modules such as SFP+, QSFP+ and QSFP28 units, as well as more advanced form factors like CFP2 and OSFP for ultra-high-speed applications.

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