Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading Down 7.9% Following Insider Selling

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) dropped 7.9% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $177.26 and last traded at $176.4730. Approximately 3,796,050 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 10,416,618 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.55.

Specifically, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 34,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $5,662,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 326,453 shares in the company, valued at $54,364,218.09. The trade was a 9.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 29,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 149,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,825,959.34. This represents a 16.39% 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. In related news, CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 59,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $9,825,270.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,302,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,894,667.08. The trade was a 4.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. B. Riley Financial raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.69. The company has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -253.55 and a beta of 3.66.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $151.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 51.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the 2nd quarter worth $377,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 20,261 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter valued at $952,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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.