Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Receives “Buy” Rating from Rosenblatt Securities

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $220.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock. Rosenblatt Securities’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 77.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $135.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $124.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.79 and a 200-day moving average of $118.02. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12 month low of $18.50 and a 12 month high of $233.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of -188.21 and a beta of 3.76.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.04. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.55% and a negative return on equity of 4.64%. The business had revenue of $191.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 86.3% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.09, for a total value of $488,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 380,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,464,523.84. The trade was a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 40,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.60, for a total value of $6,880,127.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 286,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,812,754.40. The trade was a 12.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 506,215 shares of company stock worth $87,409,447 over the last quarter. Insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 18,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Tema ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,637 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: AAOI reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.06 per share, above estimates of approximately $0.02-$0.03 and significantly better than the $0.16-per-share loss recorded a year earlier. Revenue rose 86.3% year over year to $191.92 million, modestly exceeding the $190.48 million consensus. Applied Optoelectronics Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management expects demand for its optical networking products to exceed production capacity through at least mid-2027. This signals strong order visibility tied to AI infrastructure and data-center expansion, although it also highlights the need to increase manufacturing capacity. Applied Optoelectronics Beats Q2 Estimates and Expects Demand to Outpace Capacity
• Positive Sentiment: A potential Federal Communications Commission restriction on new Chinese optical-transceiver imports could benefit U.S.-based suppliers such as AAOI by redirecting demand toward domestic alternatives. The proposal remains uncertain and has not yet become final policy. Potential AI Infrastructure Bottleneck
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $255 million-$290 million brackets the $265.7 million analyst forecast, indicating continued rapid growth but a wide range around expectations. AAOI Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: AAOI forecast third-quarter EPS of $0.11-$0.26, below the $0.27 consensus estimate at the midpoint and upper end. That cautious profit outlook may outweigh the second-quarter beat, particularly because the company remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis.

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.