Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Down 8.9% – Here’s Why

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) traded down 8.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $141.80 and last traded at $141.1220. Approximately 2,499,625 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 10,700,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $154.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAOI. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.40.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.06. The company has a market capitalization of $11.45 billion, a PE ratio of -174.41 and a beta of 3.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 2.78.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $191.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 9.57% and a negative return on equity of 1.98%. The company’s revenue was up 86.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total value of $5,495,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 384,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,043,441.28. This represents a 7.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 40,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.60, for a total value of $6,880,127.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 286,124 shares in the company, valued at $48,812,754.40. This trade represents a 12.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 323,204 shares of company stock worth $55,700,961. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Tema ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $88,000. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.