Brokerages Set Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Price Target at $52.80

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.80.

AAOI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $159.42 on Friday. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $161.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -245.26 and a beta of 3.23.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The business’s 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. Analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Optoelectronics

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company-scale manufacturing expansion — AOI announced it will add ~388,000 sq. ft. of Pearland (Houston area) manufacturing capacity (bringing its local footprint to ~900,000 sq. ft.) to support AI/data‑center optics demand, which should help revenue/fulfillment for large 800G/1.6T orders. AOI Expands Houston Footprint (GlobeNewswire) Property Acquisition (The Globe and Mail)
• Positive Sentiment: Investor re‑rating on large hyperscale orders and upcoming earnings call — market commentary links recent price strength to renewed focus on AAOI’s upsized 800G and 1.6T hyperscale transceiver orders and a fresh Q1 results date that acts as a near‑term catalyst. These order flows underpin the bullish narrative for AI/data‑center optics. QuiverQuant: Investors refocus on hyperscale orders
• Positive Sentiment: Strong year-to-date price performance highlighted — coverage noting a 351% YTD rally underscores the market’s enthusiasm for AAOI’s AI/data‑center exposure and capacity expansion story, which can attract momentum and further speculative flows. Yahoo: Expansion Fuels 351% Rally
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual bullish options activity — heavy call buying (≈35,172 calls, ~33% above typical volume) indicates short‑term speculative or hedged bullish positioning ahead of earnings and delivery milestones; this can amplify intraday moves. (Options flow reported 4/16)
• Neutral Sentiment: Conference call scheduled — the company announced the date for its Q1 2026 results call; this is a defined near‑term event that can create volatility depending on order cadence, margin commentary and guidance. MarketWatch: Q1 results call date
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry comparison — a Zacks piece contrasts AAOI with ASML, noting ASML’s scale and EUV leadership keep it ahead in the broader semiconductor supply chain; useful context but not an immediate stock mover for AAOI. Zacks: ASML vs. AAOI
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and short‑term downward pressure — a report flagged substantial insider share sales and a separate note tied a pullback to that selling (reporting a ~6% intraday decline), which raises governance/near‑term supply concerns for traders. American Banking News: Insider Selling

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.13, for a total value of $2,903,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 82,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,277,046.19. The trade was a 25.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 36,400 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.25, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 233,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,420,204.50. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 326,333 shares of company stock worth $29,802,706. 4.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted 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 buying an additional 2,415 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $377,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 36.0% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 50.0% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 60,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after buying an additional 20,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $952,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.