David Kuo Sells 19,227 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Applied Optoelectronics insider David Kuo sold 19,227 shares at an average price of $173.26, totaling about $3.33 million. The filing said the sale was tied to tax withholding obligations from vesting equity awards.
• Stock and earnings snapshot: AAOI traded down to $171.33 on Tuesday and remains volatile, with a 1-year range of $15.06 to $233.67. The company recently missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, though revenue still rose 51.3% year over year.
• Investor sentiment: The company has seen multiple insider sales and a planned $600 million at-the-market offering, which has raised dilution concerns. At the same time, analysts remain mixed overall, with a consensus Hold rating and bullish commentary tied to AI optical demand.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) insider David Kuo sold 19,227 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $3,331,270.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 197,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,196,326.20. The trade was a 8.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAOI traded down $1.93 during trading hours 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. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.06 and a 1-year high of $233.67. The firm has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a PE ratio of -259.59 and a beta of 3.76. The business's 50 day moving average price is $135.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.03.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 51.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 year.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Optoelectronics

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAOI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Three research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 1.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,072 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,386 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.9% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 16,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in 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 in the last quarter. 61.70% of the stock is 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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