Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $103.91, but opened at $110.05. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $106.2350, with a volume of 6,471,440 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAOI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective 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, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 7.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -170.39 and a beta of 3.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The business had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cynthia Delaney sold 21,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total value of $2,058,420.00. Following the sale, the director owned 116,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,392,080.44. The trade was a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 102,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.76, for a total transaction of $9,800,748.72. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,965,282.48. The trade was a 83.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 326,333 shares of company stock worth $29,392,957. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $377,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 46.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 64,744 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,663,000 after acquiring an additional 20,563 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 28.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 78,475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 17,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in 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 valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.