Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin Sells 58,000 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Key Points

• CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 58,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics at an average price of $173.26, a transaction worth about $10.0 million. The company said the sale was related to tax withholding on vested equity awards.
• AAOI shares were down about 1.1% in Tuesday trading to $171.33, even after a strong run that left the stock near its 52-week high of $233.67. The move came alongside heavy volume and broader profit-taking in AI optics names.
• Investors are also watching a $600 million at-the-market stock offering that could create dilution pressure. Despite that concern, analysts remain mixed-to-bullish overall, citing demand for AI optical infrastructure and 800G/1.6T products.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 58,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $10,049,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,255,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $390,821,369.18. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI traded down $1.93 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $171.33. The company had a trading volume of 8,941,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,914,948. The stock has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a PE ratio of -259.59 and a beta of 3.76. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.06 and a 1-year high of $233.67. The business's 50 day moving average price is $135.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.08.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $151.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Optoelectronics News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Optoelectronics this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 58,000 shares, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 33,000 shares, and other insiders also sold stock, but the company said the transactions were tied to tax withholding on equity award vesting.
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Optoelectronics recently filed a prospectus supplement for a $600 million at-the-market stock offering, which raised investor concerns about potential dilution and added a near-term overhang.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive overall, with recent buy ratings and a bullish thesis tied to strong hyperscaler demand for AI optical infrastructure and expanding demand for 800G and 1.6T optics.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has also been hit by profit-taking after a sharp run-up, with market commentary noting that AAOI and other AI optics names are pulling back as investors lock in gains.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAOI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Northland Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.80.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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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