Key Points
- Insider sale: Shu‑Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 50,000 AAOI shares on March 9 at an average of $97.10 for $4.855 million, trimming his stake by 13.44% to 322,051 shares, as disclosed in an SEC filing.
- Company outlook and market reaction: AAOI posted Q4 revenue of $134.3M (up 33.9% YoY) and has landed large hyperscaler orders that helped drive the stock to new highs, but management issued negative Q1 EPS guidance and analysts remain mixed (consensus "Hold," $52.80 target), highlighting execution and profitability risks.
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $242,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,940,000. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.
Min-Chu (Mike) Chen also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Monday, March 9th, Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 8,835 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.72, for a total transaction of $960,541.20.
Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 8.9%
Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $120.49 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.69. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.71 and a 12-month high of $127.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of -185.37 and a beta of 3.20.
Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $134.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.70% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAOI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Northland Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.80.
Read Our Latest Report on AAOI
Key Applied Optoelectronics News
Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Optoelectronics this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Company hit an all‑time high after announcing a new supply deal and expansion that underpins capacity to meet hyperscaler demand. Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) hits all-time high on new supply deal, expansion
- Positive Sentiment: Received its first volume order for 1.6T data‑center transceivers from a major hyperscaler — a direct revenue/capacity catalyst if ramps stick. Applied Optoelectronics climbs after receiving first volume order for its 1.6T data center transceivers
- Positive Sentiment: Market reports of a large transceiver order (reported ~ $200M) add near‑term revenue visibility and help justify higher multiple on growth expectations. Applied Optoelectronics stock rises on $200M transceiver order
- Positive Sentiment: Reported solid Q4 revenue and margin improvement (revenue up ~34% YoY; gross margin expansion) that underpin management’s 800G/1.6T ramp thesis. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI) Posts Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
- Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/sector pieces highlight the AI/photonics thematic lift (800G, 1.6T demand) that’s driving multiple expansion, but they stress execution/timing will determine how much revenue actually flows. AAOI Bets on 800G Ramp, 1.6T Optics & Texas Scale to Power AI Growth
- Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data posted in filings looks noisy/zeroed in recent reports and doesn't provide a clear bearish signal — likely not a driver right now.
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales disclosed this week (directors and the CFO sold shares), which can be perceived as profit‑taking or signal reduced insider conviction near current highs. SEC filings available for the trades. SEC insider sale filing (William H. Yeh)
- Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn the stock has already rallied massively (700%+ in a year); execution risk (capacity, product mix, timing of hyperscaler orders), rising costs and possible tariff headwinds create downside risk if ramps slip. Applied Optoelectronics: After a 700% Run, Can Execution Keep Up?
- Negative Sentiment: Management’s near‑term EPS guidance remains negative for Q1 (range implies continued early‑stage profitability risk), so the stock is priced for strong operational execution — any miss would likely trigger pullbacks.
About Applied Optoelectronics
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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