Insider Selling: Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Sells 8,835 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 8,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.72, for a total value of $960,541.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 169,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,406,296. This represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Min-Chu (Mike) Chen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 6th, Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 2,500 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $242,500.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 8.9%

NASDAQ:AAOI traded up $9.87 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $120.49. 13,570,868 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,110,200. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -185.37 and a beta of 3.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.55 and a 200 day moving average of $36.01. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $127.39.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 13.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,624,570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $119,915,000 after buying an additional 551,910 shares during the period. WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,040,000. AI Squared Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at $5,043,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,283,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 60.0% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,160,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,091,000 after purchasing an additional 435,349 shares during the last quarter. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company announced its first volume order for 1.6T data‑center transceivers from a major hyperscale customer — a clear commercial validation that supports revenue scaling into 2026. AOI Receives First Volume Order of 1.6T Data Center Transceivers from Major Hyperscale Customer
• Positive Sentiment: Reported Q4 2025 results: revenue beat and quarter-over-quarter growth (revenue $134.3M), gross margin expansion — results support the narrative that AAOI can scale into larger hyperscaler programs. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI) Posts Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst pieces highlight 800G ramps, upcoming 1.6T demand and new Texas capacity as catalysts for a potential >$1B revenue path in 2026 if execution and order timing hold. AAOI Bets on 800G Ramp, 1.6T Optics & Texas Scale to Power AI Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts note a massive share run this past year (700%+) and emphasize that continued execution on hyperscaler ramps could sustain the rally. Applied Optoelectronics: After a 700% Run, Can Execution Keep Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reports in early March appear to show zero shares (likely a reporting anomaly), so current short‑interest data provide no clear signal about bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Risk flags: analysts warn rising costs, tariff exposure and the timing of hyperscaler orders could hurt margins and growth conversion; company guidance for Q1 2026 includes negative EPS range and consensus still models a loss for the year. AAOI Stock Surges 129% in a Month: Should You Buy, Sell or Hold?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AAOI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. 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 upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.80.

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.