Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

10 Apr 2026, 22:20 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $129.88 and last traded at $131.5160, with a volume of 8457183 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $117.64.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Get Our Latest Research Report on Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of -231.69 and a beta of 3.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $80.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.63.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $134.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. Applied Optoelectronics’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 102,347 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.76, for a total value of $9,800,748.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,965,282.48. This represents a 83.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia Delaney sold 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.02, for a total transaction of $2,058,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 116,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,392,080.44. This trade represents a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 326,333 shares of company stock worth $29,392,957 in the last three months. 4.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $57,000. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.