BlackRock Inc. Acquires New Stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. $AAOI

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired a major stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter, purchasing 6.45 million shares worth approximately $955.7 million, representing an 8.04% ownership position.
• Applied Optoelectronics reported quarterly EPS of $0.06, beating estimates of $0.02, while revenue rose 86.3% year over year to $191.92 million. Despite the stronger results, the company remains unprofitable, with a negative net margin of 9.57%.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with three Buy, two Hold and one Sell rating; the stock carries an overall “Hold” consensus and an average price target of $139.40. Shares opened at $124.82, down 3.3%.

BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,450,270 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $955,672,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 8.04% of Applied Optoelectronics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,464 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,961,000 after buying an additional 13,265 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,719,000. Andar Capital Management HK Ltd bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $11,335,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $4,125,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $16,220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 59,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total value of $9,825,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,302,436 shares in the company, valued at $216,894,667.08. This trade represents a 4.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 29,227 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total value of $4,867,172.31. Following the sale, the insider owned 149,078 shares in the company, valued at $24,825,959.34. This represents a 16.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 329,204 shares of company stock valued at $56,587,341 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAOI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.40.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $124.82 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $127.73 and its 200 day moving average is $124.85. The company has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of -160.03 and a beta of 3.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.13. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.50 and a 1 year high of $233.67.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $191.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.48 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 1.98% and a negative net margin of 9.57%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 86.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source