Southland Equity Partners LLC Takes Position in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. $AAOI

Key Points

• Southland Equity Partners LLC has acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics, purchasing 12,507 shares valued at approximately $321,000 in the second quarter.
• CEO Chih-Hsiang Lin bought 3,250 shares at an average cost of $22.65 each, increasing his total ownership to 1,655,415 shares, while CFO Stefan Murry sold 12,000 shares for $268,440.
• Applied Optoelectronics reported a quarterly loss with an EPS of ($0.16), missing estimates, while revenue grew by 137.9% year-over-year despite negative net margins.

Southland Equity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,507 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1.1% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 61,017 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 21,096 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 36,471 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 243.9% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,297 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,036 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares during the last quarter. 61.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAOI shares. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, July 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Northland Securities set a $30.00 price objective on Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $15.00 price objective (up previously from $13.00) on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAOI traded down $2.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.25. The stock had a trading volume of 4,626,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,534,949. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.43 and a beta of 2.91. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $44.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.34.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $102.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.96 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 42.29% and a negative return on equity of 10.60%. Applied Optoelectronics's revenue for the quarter was up 137.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.28) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2025 guidance at -0.100--0.030 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen acquired 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.91 per share, for a total transaction of $171,825.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $515,475. This trade represents a 50.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin acquired 3,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.65 per share, with a total value of $73,612.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,655,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,495,149.75. The trade was a 0.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 44,100 shares of company stock worth $1,000,878 and sold 30,784 shares worth $709,117. Insiders own 4.50% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells fiber-optic networking products in the United States, Taiwan, and China. It offers optical modules, optical filters, lasers, laser components, subassemblies, transmitters and transceivers, turn-key equipment, headend, node, distribution equipment, and amplifiers.