Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Up 17.8% – Here’s Why

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares rose 17.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $89.32 and last traded at $90.1640. 3,189,974 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 10,363,205 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAOI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 17.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.72. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.38 and a beta of 3.69.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.98 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 4.64% and a negative net margin of 8.55%.Applied Optoelectronics’s quarterly revenue was up 51.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 39,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $6,783,822.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 462,430 shares in the company, valued at $80,120,621.80. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 33,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $5,717,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 451,906 shares in the company, valued at $78,297,233.56. This trade represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 501,500 shares of company stock valued at $86,812,999. 3.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. Allworth Financial LP lifted 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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.