1492 Capital Management LLC Invests $7.53 Million in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. $AAOI

Key Points

• 1492 Capital Management initiated a new position in Applied Optoelectronics, buying 215,987 shares worth about $7.53 million. The stake represents 2.9% of the fund’s holdings and makes AAOI its third-largest position.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions, and institutional ownership stands at 61.70%. Meanwhile, insiders have been selling shares, including recent transactions by David C. Kuo and Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh tied to tax withholding from equity awards.
• Applied Optoelectronics shares were trading down 9.0% at $184.07, after the company reported a quarterly EPS loss that missed estimates and revenue that fell short of expectations. Analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating on the stock, with an average price target of $79.80.

1492 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 215,987 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $7,529,000. Applied Optoelectronics comprises 2.9% of 1492 Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. 1492 Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Applied Optoelectronics as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $800,000. Diker Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at $519,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 third quarter worth $5,043,000. Finally, Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $235,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 19,227 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $3,331,270.02. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 39,154 shares of the company'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 $6,783,822.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 462,430 shares in the company, valued at $80,120,621.80. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 389,321 shares of company stock valued at $57,608,524. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 9.0%

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $184.07 on Thursday. 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 12-month low of $15.29 and a 12-month high of $233.67. The company has a market capitalization of $14.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -278.89 and a beta of 3.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $152.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.67.

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 business had revenue of $151.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AAOI. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.80.

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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