Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

AAOI has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $15.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 56.9%

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $84.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of -129.58 and a beta of 3.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.59. Applied Optoelectronics has a 12-month low of $9.71 and a 12-month high of $84.31.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total value of $876,319.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 111,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,602,132.71. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $587,573.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 290,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,575,012.50. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 66,520 shares of company stock worth $3,080,367 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 497.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and revenue strength: AAOI reported a $0.01 loss per share vs. consensus -$0.12 and revenue of $134.3M, up ~34% year-over-year — both results topped estimates and underpinned the rally. MarketBeat earnings summary
• Positive Sentiment: Upside revenue guidance: Management raised Q1 2026 revenue guidance to $150M–$165M, above consensus, signaling continued demand — a key driver for investor optimism. GlobeNewswire press release
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish write-up highlighting large growth potential: 247WallStreet published a bullish piece framing AAOI as entering a “10x moment” with aggressive revenue projections that likely boosted speculative buying interest. AAOI’s 10x Moment
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / target increase from Needham: Needham raised its price target to $80 and maintained a “buy” rating, lending institutional validation to the recent beat and outlook. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: EPS still a small loss despite beat: The company reported a small GAAP loss but beat the much larger consensus loss estimate — a mixed data point for profitability progress. Zacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Conference call and detailed release available for off-cycle color: Investors should review the earnings call transcript and press release for product, margin and backlog details that will determine sustainability of the beat. Earnings call (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst targets remain below current levels: Northland reaffirmed a “market perform” with a $55 target and B. Riley’s $54 target (despite an upgrade to neutral) both imply sizable downside from current prices — a restraint on further upside until fundamentals confirm sustainability. Finviz Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data appears inconsistent: Public short-interest reports in the feed show zero shares/NaN changes (likely data errors) — ignore until verified; actual short-covering could amplify moves but current data is unreliable.

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.