UNICOM Systems Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. $AAOI

UNICOM Systems Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) by 122.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 152,483 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,892 shares during the quarter. Applied Optoelectronics makes up about 1.5% of UNICOM Systems Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. UNICOM Systems Inc.’s holdings in Applied Optoelectronics were worth $22,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in the fourth 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. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter valued at $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.00.

Trending Headlines about Applied Optoelectronics

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Optoelectronics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations: Applied Optoelectronics reported adjusted EPS of $0.06 versus consensus estimates near $0.02–$0.03. Revenue reached approximately $191.9 million, ahead of estimates and up about 86% year over year from $103 million. Applied Optoelectronics Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Up Y/Y
• Positive Sentiment: AI datacenter demand is accelerating: Growth was driven by datacenter products, including rapidly expanding 800G optical transceivers. Management is also increasing capacity for 800G and 1.6T products, with demand reportedly exceeding available supply through at least mid-2027. AAOI Q2 Earnings Call Focuses on Capacity-Led 800G Ramp
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and industry momentum helped sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its “buy” rating and assigned a $220 price target. Photonics and optics companies also benefited from strong sector earnings and expectations that potential U.S. restrictions on Chinese optical-transceiver imports could reduce overseas competition. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: Expansion is being limited by supply: Management said it could sell more products if it had greater manufacturing capacity. Component shortages are expected to constrain near-term growth, even as they demonstrate strong underlying demand. Applied Optoelectronics says it could sell more if it could make more
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 profit guidance disappointed: The company forecast EPS of $0.11–$0.26, below the roughly $0.27 analyst consensus, although projected revenue of $255 million–$290 million brackets consensus near $265.7 million. Analysts also flagged competition, a setback in 100G products and valuation concerns after the stock’s substantial rally. Applied Optoelectronics slides amid mixed Q2 results and guidance

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider David C. Kuo sold 29,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $4,867,172.31. Following the transaction, the insider owned 149,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,825,959.34. This represents a 16.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 4,715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.50, for a total transaction of $596,447.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 383,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,512,497. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 506,215 shares of company stock worth $87,409,447 in the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI opened at $135.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -173.88 and a beta of 3.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.14. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.50 and a 12 month high of $233.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $191.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.48 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 2.52% and a negative net margin of 9.57%.The company’s revenue was up 86.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Optoelectronics 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.