Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Sells $960,541.20 in Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 8,835 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.72, for a total transaction of $960,541.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 169,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,406,296. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Min-Chu (Mike) Chen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 6th, Min-Chu (Mike) Chen sold 2,500 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $242,500.00.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI traded up $9.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $120.49. 13,570,868 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,110,200. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -185.37 and a beta of 3.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.01. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $127.39.

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. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The company had revenue of $134.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. Analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Northland Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,624,570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $119,915,000 after purchasing an additional 551,910 shares during the period. WT Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth approximately $5,040,000. AI Squared Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,043,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth about $4,283,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,160,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,091,000 after purchasing an additional 435,349 shares in the last quarter. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Optoelectronics

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company announced its first volume order for 1.6T data‑center transceivers from a major hyperscale customer — a clear commercial validation that supports revenue scaling into 2026. AOI Receives First Volume Order of 1.6T Data Center Transceivers from Major Hyperscale Customer
• Positive Sentiment: Reported Q4 2025 results: revenue beat and quarter-over-quarter growth (revenue $134.3M), gross margin expansion — results support the narrative that AAOI can scale into larger hyperscaler programs. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI) Posts Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst pieces highlight 800G ramps, upcoming 1.6T demand and new Texas capacity as catalysts for a potential >$1B revenue path in 2026 if execution and order timing hold. AAOI Bets on 800G Ramp, 1.6T Optics & Texas Scale to Power AI Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts note a massive share run this past year (700%+) and emphasize that continued execution on hyperscaler ramps could sustain the rally. Applied Optoelectronics: After a 700% Run, Can Execution Keep Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest reports in early March appear to show zero shares (likely a reporting anomaly), so current short‑interest data provide no clear signal about bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Risk flags: analysts warn rising costs, tariff exposure and the timing of hyperscaler orders could hurt margins and growth conversion; company guidance for Q1 2026 includes negative EPS range and consensus still models a loss for the year. AAOI Stock Surges 129% in a Month: Should You Buy, Sell or Hold?

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.