Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Stefan Murry Sells 4,000 Shares

Key Points

• Applied Optoelectronics' CFO Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares on April 10 at an average price of $136.50 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, generating $546,000 and reducing his stake by 1.43% to 276,070 shares (≈$37.68M).
• The stock traded down 4.4% to $146.39 on heavy volume (10.67M shares), sits near its 52‑week high of $155.40, has a market cap of $11.01B and a beta of 3.23, signaling elevated volatility.
• Applied Optoelectronics beat quarterly EPS estimates (reported ($0.01) vs. ($0.12) expected) with revenue up 33.9% year‑over‑year, but issued Q1 2026 guidance of -0.090 to 0.000 EPS and holds an average analyst rating of Hold with a $52.80 consensus price target.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) CFO Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.50, for a total value of $546,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 276,070 shares in the company, valued at $37,683,555. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 4.4%

AAOI traded down $6.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $146.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,674,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,351,110. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.71 and a fifty-two week high of $155.40. The stock has a market cap of $11.01 billion, a PE ratio of -225.22 and a beta of 3.23. The business's 50-day moving average is $84.69 and its 200-day moving average is $50.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The firm had revenue of $134.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $131.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 27th. B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at $57,000. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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