Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

13 Sep 2026, 07:45 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI – Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $139.40.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 7th.

View Our Latest Analysis on Applied Optoelectronics

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.33, for a total value of $421,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 367,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,673,805.44. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shu-Hua Yeh sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.89, for a total value of $1,031,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 394,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,760,241.23. This represents a 1.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 98,501 shares of company stock worth $14,003,877. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 23.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,464 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,961,000 after buying an additional 13,265 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth $7,719,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 2nd quarter worth $955,672,000. Andar Capital Management HK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $11,335,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $4,125,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Optoelectronics News

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

Positive Sentiment: Applied Optoelectronics is expanding capacity for 800G and 1.6T optical products as AI infrastructure investment drives demand for faster data-center connectivity. The growth opportunity strengthens AAOI’s competitive position against larger rivals such as Lumentum and Coherent. AAOI’s Optical Networking Demand Rise: Can It Beat LITE and COHR?
Positive Sentiment: The company is expanding its operating footprint through the acquisition of a Houston facility, a move that could provide additional manufacturing or operational capacity to support expected customer demand. Applied Optoelectronics Expands Operations with Houston Facility Acquisition
Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue comparing AAOI with networking and optical-component peers, including Arista Networks. The comparison highlights the company’s AI-networking opportunity but also its smaller scale, losses and high valuation risk. Critical Analysis: Arista Networks versus Applied Optoelectronics
Negative Sentiment: Chief Financial Officer Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares worth approximately $421,000, while director Hung-Lun Fred Chang previously sold 32,172 shares worth about $3.5 million. Murry’s transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan and he retains a substantial position, reducing—but not eliminating—the bearish signal.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Applied Optoelectronics stock opened at $105.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.36. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52-week low of $18.50 and a 52-week high of $233.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.08 and a beta of 3.79.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.04. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 9.57% and a negative return on equity of 1.98%. The company had revenue of $191.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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Applied Optoelectronics, Inc develops and manufactures fiber-optic networking products and components. Its offerings include optical transceivers, transponders, modules and related equipment used to transmit data over fiber-optic networks.

The company serves several communications markets, including data centers, telecommunications, broadband access and cable television. Its products support applications such as high-speed data transmission, cloud computing, network infrastructure and fiber-based broadband services.