Insider Selling: Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Sells 15,000 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director William Yeh sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 238,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,257,497.44. This trade represents a 5.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAOI traded up $9.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $120.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,570,868 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,110,200. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -185.37 and a beta of 3.19. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.71 and a fifty-two week high of $127.39.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAOI shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.80.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Optoelectronics

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?

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

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.