B. Riley Financial Upgrades Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) to Neutral

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) was upgraded by analysts at B. Riley Financial from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $54.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $15.00. B. Riley Financial’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 0.58% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Northland Securities set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 7.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $53.69 on Friday. Applied Optoelectronics has a 1 year low of $9.71 and a 1 year high of $59.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.67 and a beta of 3.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $876,319.39. Following the sale, the insider owned 111,663 shares in the company, valued at $5,602,132.71. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $587,573.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 290,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,575,012.50. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 66,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,080,367 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 16,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Applied Optoelectronics News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — AAOI reported EPS of ($0.01) vs. consensus ($0.12) and revenue of $134.3M (up 33.9% YoY), outperforming estimates. That beat is driving bullish investor response. GlobeNewswire Release
• Positive Sentiment: Company issued a stronger-than-expected revenue outlook for Q1 2026 — guidance of $150M–$165M vs. Street ~$145.6M — which supports the bullish case even though EPS guidance is wide. Market press noted the stock “surged” on the beat + outlook. Investing.com Surge Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Conference call and official filings are available for details — useful for investors who want management commentary on demand trends and margin outlook. Earnings Call / Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest updates show a purported “significant increase” in February, but the published numbers are inconsistent/0 and appear unreliable — treat this data cautiously until corrected. (Note: days-to-cover and shares figures reported as 0/NaN.)
• Negative Sentiment: EPS guidance range for Q1 (‑$0.090 to $0.000) is weaker than consensus (‑$0.070), leaving room for disappointment on profitability even as revenue guidance was raised. MSN Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: AAOI was included in a list of “Stocks Investors Have Ditched,” reflecting some bearish sentiment/rotation risk among retail or thematic sellers that could pressure the name if momentum fades. InsiderMonkey Article

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.