Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $129.88 and last traded at $131.5160, with a volume of 8457183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 12.9%

The company has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -203.90 and a beta of 3.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.75 and a 200 day moving average of $47.15.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $134.27 million for 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%.Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 36,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.25, for a total value of $3,649,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 233,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,420,204.50. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 50,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.10, for a total transaction of $4,855,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 322,051 shares in the company, valued at $31,271,152.10. This represents a 13.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 326,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,392,957 in the last 90 days. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

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

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.