William Yeh Sells 15,000 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director William Yeh sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were 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 $25,257,497.44. This represents a 5.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $127.01 on Thursday. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $128.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -195.40 and a beta of 3.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $53.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.32.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.80.

Trending Headlines about Applied Optoelectronics

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company hit an all‑time high after announcing a new supply deal and capacity expansion to meet hyperscaler demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Received first volume order for 1.6T data‑center transceivers from a major hyperscaler — a direct demand and revenue catalyst if production ramps on schedule. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market reports of a large transceiver order (~$200M) add near‑term revenue visibility and help justify a higher multiple while growth is proving out. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Reported solid Q4 results: revenue up ~34% YoY and gross‑margin improvement, supporting management’s 800G/1.6T ramp thesis. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and sector pieces highlight the AI/photonics thematic tailwind (800G/1.6T demand) that is lifting multiples, but emphasize that timing and execution determine how much revenue actually flows. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest filings appear noisy/zeroed in recent reports and don’t provide a clear bearish signal at this time (not a meaningful driver today).
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed this week (directors and the CFO sold shares), which can be interpreted as profit‑taking near current highs and may weigh on sentiment. SEC filing for one of the sales: Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn the stock has already rallied massively (700%+ YTD/year) — execution risk (capacity, product mix, hyperscaler order timing), rising costs and potential tariff exposure create downside risk if ramps or margins miss expectations. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s Q1 guidance implies negative EPS, so the stock is priced for strong operational execution — any near‑term miss would likely prompt a sharp pullback.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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.