Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading Up 6% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares rose about 6% on Friday to roughly $145.93 (intraday high $149.38) on light volume — ~2.13M shares traded, down ~77% versus the ~9.22M average — while the 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages sit at $101.69 and $56.93, respectively.
• The company beat quarterly estimates (EPS of -$0.01 vs. consensus -$0.12) with revenue of $134.3M (up 33.9% YoY), but guided Q1 2026 to -$0.090 to $0.00, and analysts remain mixed with an average rating of "Hold" and a $52.80 average price target.
• Insiders have been net sellers — 326,333 shares sold (~$29.8M) in the past 90 days including large disposals by Shu‑Hua Yeh and a director — insiders own 4.5% of the stock while institutions hold 61.7%.

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) rose 6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $149.38 and last traded at $145.9270. Approximately 2,125,263 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 9,222,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAOI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley Financial raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 18.5%

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 business's 50-day moving average is $101.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.93. The firm has a market cap of $12.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -251.72 and a beta of 3.23.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.10, for a total value of $4,855,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 322,051 shares in the company, valued at $31,271,152.10. This trade represents a 13.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 102,347 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 20,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,965,282.48. This represents a 83.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 326,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,802,706 in the last ninety days. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 10.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,579 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth about $377,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 60,817 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,562,000 after buying an additional 20,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $952,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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