Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Applied Optoelectronics hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $155.40 (last $153.19) on heavy volume, with the 50-day and 200-day moving averages at $84.69 and $50.37 respectively, underscoring a sharp recent rally.
• Quarterly results beat estimates: AAOI reported ($0.01) EPS vs. a ($0.12) consensus and revenue of $134.27M (vs. $131.56M), with revenue up 33.9% year-over-year, though it guided Q1 to -$0.090–$0.000 EPS.
• Analyst coverage is mixed (average rating: Hold, average price target $52.80) while insiders have sold heavily—322,399 shares (~$29.3M) in the past 90 days—despite institutions owning about 61.7% of the stock.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $155.40 and last traded at $153.19, with a volume of 10901574 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $150.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -235.68 and a beta of 3.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $84.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.37.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The company had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The company's 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, research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $2,058,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 116,222 shares in the company, valued at $11,392,080.44. The trade was a 15.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 102,347 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 20,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,965,282.48. This represents a 83.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 322,399 shares of company stock valued at $29,259,017. Insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $800,000. Diker Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $519,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,624,570 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $119,915,000 after buying an additional 551,910 shares during the period. AI Squared Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,043,000. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,040,000. 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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