Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Price Down 9.9% – Here’s Why

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares were down 9.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $47.06 and last traded at $46.9170. Approximately 6,968,053 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 10,632,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $170.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. B. Riley Financial lowered their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $92.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Northland Securities upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.60.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a current ratio of 2.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of -109.83 and a beta of 4.04.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 1.98% and a negative net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $269.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue for the quarter was up 127.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hung-Lun Chang sold 32,172 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total transaction of $3,545,676.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 249,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,472,707.96. The trade was a 11.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total transaction of $411,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 363,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,359,092.16. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 52,172 shares of company stock worth $5,985,036 over the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $955,672,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 12.4% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 566,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $56,271,000 after acquiring an additional 62,706 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter worth $47,817,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at $33,712,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at $32,567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. designs and manufactures fiber-optic networking products used to transmit data over cable, telecommunications and data center networks. Its offerings include optical transceivers and other optical components and equipment. The company serves customers in markets including broadband access, telecommunications and data centers. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics has operations in the United States and Asia and serves customers internationally.