Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $55.86, but opened at $51.12. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $52.0390, with a volume of 2,561,814 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAOI. Northland Securities upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $170.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of -127.00 and a beta of 4.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.47.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $269.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.11 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 0.17% and a negative net margin of 4.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 127.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, insider Shu-Hua Yeh sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total value of $720,180.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 371,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,590,904.94. This represents a 1.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total value of $411,480.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 363,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,359,092.16. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 52,172 shares of company stock worth $5,985,036 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 23.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,464 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,961,000 after purchasing an additional 13,265 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth $955,672,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth about $7,719,000. Capstone Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $2,101,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,712,000. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. designs and manufactures fiber-optic networking products used to transmit data over cable, telecommunications and data center networks. Its offerings include optical transceivers and other optical components and equipment. The company serves customers in markets including broadband access, telecommunications and data centers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics has operations in the United States and Asia and serves customers internationally.