Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Releases Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) issued an update on its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of -0.090-0.000 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of -0.070. The company issued revenue guidance of $150.0 million-$165.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $145.6 million.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

AAOI traded down $4.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $53.69. 5,361,271 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,115,486. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.67 and a beta of 3.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.00. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $9.71 and a fifty-two week high of $59.25.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.11. The business 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 36.97% and a negative return on equity of 7.34%. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAOI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. 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. B. Riley Financial reissued a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Monday, November 10th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $45.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Optoelectronics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $587,573.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 290,050 shares in the company, valued at $14,575,012.50. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $876,319.39. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 66,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,080,367 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,512,309 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,439,000 after buying an additional 3,446,150 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,321.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,229,757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188,630 shares during the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% during the 4th quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 1,700,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $59,293,000 after acquiring an additional 875,903 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 157.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,699,855 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $59,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038,775 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,606,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $55,993,000 after purchasing an additional 165,641 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.