Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. $AAOI

Key Points

• Vanguard Group increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, adding 358,090 shares to bring its total holdings to 4.98 million shares worth about $173.7 million.
• Applied Optoelectronics posted 51.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $151.1 million in its latest quarter, but still missed analyst expectations on both EPS and revenue and reported negative margins.
• The company’s second-quarter guidance also came in below Wall Street expectations, even as analysts cited strong demand for 800G transceivers and a large Amazon backlog as signs of ongoing AI/datacom momentum.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Free Report) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,982,660 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 358,090 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 7.30% of Applied Optoelectronics worth $173,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 10.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,579 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $377,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 36.0% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 50.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 60,817 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,562,000 after acquiring an additional 20,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $952,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company's stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI opened at $148.94 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.83. The company has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a PE ratio of -225.67 and a beta of 3.76. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.56 and a fifty-two week high of $191.87.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.98 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 4.64% and a negative net margin of 8.55%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Applied Optoelectronics News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Optoelectronics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue rose 51% year over year to $151.1 million, showing continued demand for Applied Optoelectronics’ AI/datacom products, and the company said it shipped its first 800G volumes to a hyperscale customer. Applied Optoelectronics Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary pointed to a large Amazon backlog and strong 800G transceiver demand as reasons the stock has found support despite the earnings miss. Applied Optoelectronics inches up due to large Amazon backlog: analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced small inducement equity grants to two new employees under its 2023 equity plan, a routine hiring-related item with limited immediate financial impact. Applied Optoelectronics Announces Equity Grants To Employees Under Inducement Plan
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 earnings missed expectations, with a loss of $0.07 per share versus an estimated loss of $0.05 and revenue below consensus, raising concerns about execution and margins. Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) Reports Q1 Loss, Misses Revenue Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter guidance also came in below Wall Street’s revenue and EPS expectations, which likely pressured the shares even after the strong top-line growth. Applied Optoelectronics stock page
• Negative Sentiment: Several market reports noted the stock dropping as investors rotated out of the AI optics trade, suggesting sentiment cooled across the sector after a rapid run-up. Applied Optoelectronics Crashes 14%, Coherent Slides 10%, Lumentum Falls 7% as Optics Trade Cools

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAOI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Northland Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.10, for a total transaction of $4,855,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 322,051 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,271,152.10. This represents a 13.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Yeh sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.76, for a total transaction of $1,586,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 238,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,257,497.44. This trade represents a 5.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 314,333 shares of company stock worth $29,262,106 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

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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