Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy", with six brokerages rating the stock, including four buy ratings and two hold ratings.
• The company recently reported a quarterly revenue growth of 137.9% compared to the same quarter last year, although it missed earnings estimates by $0.08 per share.
• Insider trading activity includes CFO Stefan J. Murry selling 12,000 shares while Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen purchased 7,500 shares, indicating mixed sentiments among company insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.20.

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAOI. B. Riley reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $15.00 target price (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Northland Securities set a $30.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC began coverage on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, July 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total transaction of $268,440.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 298,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,676,930.49. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen purchased 7,500 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.91 per share, for a total transaction of $171,825.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $515,475. This represents a 50.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 44,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,000,878 and have sold 30,784 shares valued at $709,117. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,283,000. Marex Group plc acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth approximately $1,420,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth approximately $57,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 244.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,832 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 4,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth approximately $2,939,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of AAOI opened at $30.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12-month low of $9.71 and a 12-month high of $44.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.09 and a beta of 2.91.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $102.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $104.96 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 10.60% and a negative net margin of 42.29%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 137.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.28) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2025 guidance at -0.100--0.030 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells fiber-optic networking products in the United States, Taiwan, and China. It offers optical modules, optical filters, lasers, laser components, subassemblies, transmitters and transceivers, turn-key equipment, headend, node, distribution equipment, and amplifiers.

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