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

Key Points

• Applied Optoelectronics has a consensus “Hold” rating from six analysts, with three buys, two holds and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $139.40, though individual targets range from $178 to $220.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.06 in earnings per share versus a $0.02 consensus estimate and $191.92 million in revenue. Revenue increased 86.3% year over year, while the company guided for third-quarter 2026 EPS of $0.11 to $0.26.
• Institutional investors own 61.7% of the stock, including a newly disclosed position by BlackRock valued at approximately $955.7 million. Insiders sold 506,215 shares worth about $87.4 million over the past 90 days.

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $139.40.

Several analysts have issued reports on AAOI shares. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. B. Riley Financial restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

NASDAQ AAOI opened at $130.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 2.78. The stock has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -166.77 and a beta of 3.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.42. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52-week low of $18.50 and a 52-week high of $233.67.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $191.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $190.48 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 9.57% and a negative return on equity of 1.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 86.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.09, for a total transaction of $488,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 380,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,464,523.84. This represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 59,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $9,825,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,302,436 shares in the company, valued at $216,894,667.08. The trade was a 4.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 506,215 shares of company stock valued at $87,409,447 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter valued at approximately $955,672,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,512,309 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $122,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,446,150 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 5,321.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,229,757 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $77,730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188,630 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 157.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,699,855 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $59,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 1,700,900 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $59,293,000 after purchasing an additional 875,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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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