AI Squared Management Ltd Buys Shares of 194,500 Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. $AAOI

AI Squared Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 194,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,043,000. Applied Optoelectronics makes up about 5.3% of AI Squared Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. AI Squared Management Ltd owned approximately 0.28% of Applied Optoelectronics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAOI. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 497.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth about $49,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $57,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 28.8% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 5,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 711.4% during the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 5,712 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 5,008 shares during the period. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAOI. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. B. Riley Financial raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $95.67 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.31. The company has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of -147.18 and a beta of 3.20. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.71 and a 12-month high of $114.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The business had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.56 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.02) EPS. The company’s 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Optoelectronics News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional accumulation: multiple funds (Invesco, Price T. Rowe, Morgan Stanley and others) disclosed huge net purchases in Q4, signaling conviction from big investors and supplying upward pressure on the stock. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options flow: traders bought ~32,868 call options (≈133% above average daily call volume), which often accompanies bets on further upside and can amplify short‑term price moves. (Source: trading tape data)
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly beat: AAOI reported revenue and a slight EPS beat (Feb 26) with strong year‑over‑year revenue growth, which supports the bullish narrative despite conservative near‑term EPS guidance. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary on valuation vs. AI hype: a Yahoo Finance piece questions whether current pricing fully reflects AI‑infrastructure expectations — useful context but does not provide a clear directional catalyst. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Richard Black sold 3,231 shares (~$306.9k at ~$95/share), a small (1.93%) trim of his holding; insider selling can be perceived as profit‑taking. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Cynthia Delaney sold 21,000 shares (~$2.06M at ~$98.02/share), a 15.3% reduction of her stake — a larger signal of insider exit. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Elizabeth Loboa sold 102,347 shares (~$9.8M at ~$95.76/share), an 83.3% cut in her holding — the most significant insider sale and a potential near‑term headwind for sentiment. Read More.

Insider Activity at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total value of $876,319.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 111,663 shares in the company, valued at $5,602,132.71. This represents 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 available through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia Delaney sold 21,000 shares of the 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 directly owned 116,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,392,080.44. The trade was a 15.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 193,098 shares of company stock valued at $15,246,481 in the last ninety days. 4.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.