Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.80.

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAOI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, Director William H. Yeh sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 238,819 shares in the company, valued at $25,257,497.44. This trade represents a 5.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 8,835 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.72, for a total transaction of $960,541.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 169,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,406,296. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 309,833 shares of company stock worth $26,991,062. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,512,309 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,446,150 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,321.6% in the 4th 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 lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 157.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,699,855 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $59,257,000 after buying an additional 1,038,775 shares during the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 1,700,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $59,293,000 after buying an additional 875,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,923,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 14.1%

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $87.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.78. The stock has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.68 and a beta of 3.20. Applied Optoelectronics has a 1-year low of $9.71 and a 1-year high of $128.96.

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

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.