Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 5,827,481 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the previous session’s volume of 7,307,755 shares.The stock last traded at $102.2850 and had previously closed at $106.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAOI shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of 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 upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 8.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -148.94 and a beta of 3.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.39.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $134.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. Research analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total value of $876,319.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 111,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,602,132.71. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William H. Yeh sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.76, for a total transaction of $1,586,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 238,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,257,497.44. This represents a 5.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 273,433 shares of company stock valued at $23,341,962 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors 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.