Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.80.

AAOI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of 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. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Applied Optoelectronics News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue rose 51% year over year to $151.1 million, showing continued demand for Applied Optoelectronics’ AI/datacom products, and the company said it shipped its first 800G volumes to a hyperscale customer. Applied Optoelectronics Reports First Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary pointed to a large Amazon backlog and strong 800G transceiver demand as reasons the stock has found support despite the earnings miss. Applied Optoelectronics inches up due to large Amazon backlog: analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced small inducement equity grants to two new employees under its 2023 equity plan, a routine hiring-related item with limited immediate financial impact. Applied Optoelectronics Announces Equity Grants To Employees Under Inducement Plan
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 earnings missed expectations, with a loss of $0.07 per share versus an estimated loss of $0.05 and revenue below consensus, raising concerns about execution and margins. Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) Reports Q1 Loss, Misses Revenue Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter guidance also came in below Wall Street’s revenue and EPS expectations, which likely pressured the shares even after the strong top-line growth. Applied Optoelectronics stock page
• Negative Sentiment: Several market reports noted the stock dropping as investors rotated out of the AI optics trade, suggesting sentiment cooled across the sector after a rapid run-up. Applied Optoelectronics Crashes 14%, Coherent Slides 10%, Lumentum Falls 7% as Optics Trade Cools

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

AAOI stock opened at $148.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -225.67 and a beta of 3.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.55. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52 week low of $12.56 and a 52 week high of $191.87.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.98 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 4.64% and a negative net margin of 8.55%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 102,347 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.76, for a total transaction of $9,800,748.72. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,965,282.48. The trade was a 83.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Delaney sold 21,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,058,420.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 116,222 shares in the company, valued at $11,392,080.44. The trade was a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 314,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,262,106 in the last ninety days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in 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. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted 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 during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $57,000. 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.