Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang Sells 33,630 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Applied Optoelectronics insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 33,630 shares at an average price of $173.26, worth about $5.83 million. The company said the sale was to cover tax withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards.
• Recent performance and earnings: AAOI shares were down 1.93% in Tuesday trading, while the company’s latest quarterly results missed EPS and revenue estimates. Revenue still rose 51.3% year over year, and the company issued Q2 2026 EPS guidance of -$0.03 to $0.03.
• Mixed outlook: Analyst sentiment is split, with a consensus Hold rating and average price target of $79.80, though some firms remain bullish on AI-driven demand for optical infrastructure. The stock has also faced pressure from a $600 million at-the-market offering and recent profit-taking after a sharp run-up.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 33,630 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 transaction of $5,826,733.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 391,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,874,605. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 16th, Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 36,400 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.25, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded down $1.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $171.33. 8,941,358 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,914,948. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.06 and a 12 month high of $233.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.08. 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 $13.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -259.59 and a beta of 3.76.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 4.64% and a negative net margin of 8.55%.The firm had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics's quarterly 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAOI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Financial raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.80.

Trending Headlines about 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,512,309 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $122,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,446,150 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,321.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,229,757 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $77,730,000 after buying an additional 2,188,630 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 157.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,699,855 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $59,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,775 shares during the period. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 1,700,900 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $59,293,000 after purchasing an additional 875,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,923,000. Institutional investors own 61.70% 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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