Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Down 5.5% on Insider Selling

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) traded down 5.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $170.21 and last traded at $170.0090. 5,695,520 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 9,847,798 shares. The stock had previously closed at $179.83.

Specifically, Director Cynthia Delaney sold 56,575 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.23, for a total transaction of $10,705,687.25. Following the transaction, the director owned 59,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,287,001.81. This trade represents a 48.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAOI. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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 raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 6.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -240.02 and a beta of 3.76. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $146.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.74.

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

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 10.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $377,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 50.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 60,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 20,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $952,000. 61.70% of the stock is 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.