Insider Selling: Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Insider Sells $4,867,172.31 in Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) insider David Kuo sold 29,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.53, for a total transaction of $4,867,172.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 149,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,825,959.34. This trade represents a 16.39% 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 link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Applied Optoelectronics Price Performance

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $161.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -245.23 and a beta of 3.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.64. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.50 and a one year high of $233.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.03.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.55% and a negative return on equity of 4.64%. The company had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAOI. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Northland Securities restated a “market perform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. B. Riley Financial upgraded Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped 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, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Shariaportfolio Inc. bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the first quarter worth approximately $1,855,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $723,000. BankChampaign National Association bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 29,755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,518,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 70,464 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,961,000 after acquiring an additional 13,265 shares during the period. 61.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

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.