Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock Rating Upgraded by B. Riley Financial

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) was upgraded by B. Riley Financial from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $54.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $15.00. B. Riley Financial’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 35.89% from the company’s current price.

AAOI has been the topic of several other reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Northland Securities set a $45.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAOI opened at $84.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -129.58 and a beta of 3.32. Applied Optoelectronics has a 1 year low of $9.71 and a 1 year high of $84.31.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. The company 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 6.22% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 290,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,575,012.50. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $876,319.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 111,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,602,132.71. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,080,367. Corporate insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in 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 buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics News Roundup

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.

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.