Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading Down 10.1% – Here’s Why

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s share price fell 10.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $181.55 and last traded at $181.96. 6,308,764 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 9,961,274 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAOI shares. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 9.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $14.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -278.84 and a beta of 3.66. The company’s 50 day moving average is $148.22 and its 200 day moving average is $82.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.83.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $5,717,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $10,049,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,255,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $390,821,369.18. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 392,552 shares of company stock worth $57,915,469 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. NFSG Corp bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $85,000. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

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.