Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold”: Of six analysts covering Applied Optoelectronics, three rate it a buy, two a hold and one a sell. The average 12-month price target is $139.40, with individual targets ranging from $178 to $220.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: AAOI reported adjusted EPS of $0.06 versus the $0.02 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 86.3% year over year to $191.92 million. The company guided for third-quarter 2026 EPS of $0.11–$0.26.
• Shares remain highly volatile: The stock opened at $105.53, compared with a 52-week range of $18.50 to $233.67, and has a beta of 3.79. Insiders sold 250,382 shares worth approximately $41.4 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 61.7% of the stock.

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $139.40.

AAOI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $105.53 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $116.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.13, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $233.67. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.29 and a beta of 3.79.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.04. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 9.57% and a negative return on equity of 1.98%. The company had revenue of $191.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics's revenue for the quarter was up 86.3% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider Hung-Lun Chang sold 40,329 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.60, for a total transaction of $6,880,127.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 286,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,812,754.40. The trade was a 12.35% decrease in their position. The sale 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. Also, insider Shu-Hua Yeh sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $886,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 377,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $55,767,779.54. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 250,382 shares of company stock worth $41,373,027 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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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