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

Key Points

• Applied Optoelectronics has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold” from seven covering analysts, with an average 1-year price target of $113.80. The ratings are mixed, including one sell, three holds, and three buys.
• Several analysts recently adjusted views on the stock, including Rosenblatt Securities reaffirming a buy rating with a $220 target and Needham raising its target to $80. At the same time, Wall Street Zen downgraded AAOI from hold to sell.
• Insiders have been active sellers, with CFO Stefan J. Murry and insider David C. Kuo both selling shares on June 12 to cover tax withholding obligations. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 500,215 shares worth about $86.7 million.

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $113.80.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 29,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $4,867,172.31. Following the sale, the insider owned 149,078 shares in the company, valued at $24,825,959.34. This represents a 16.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $5,495,490.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 384,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,043,441.28. The trade was a 7.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 500,215 shares of company stock valued at $86,716,414. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,512,309 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $122,439,000 after buying an additional 3,446,150 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,321.6% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 157.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,923,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $146.97 on Thursday. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $233.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.32. The company has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -222.68 and a beta of 3.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.55% and a negative return on equity of 4.64%. The business had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics's revenue for the quarter was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

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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