Insider Selling: Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Insider Sells 50,000 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.10, for a total value of $4,855,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 322,051 shares in the company, valued at $31,271,152.10. This represents a 13.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 8.9%

Applied Optoelectronics stock traded up $9.87 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $120.49. 13,570,868 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,110,200. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -185.37 and a beta of 3.19. The business’s 50 day moving average is $49.55 and its 200 day moving average is $36.01. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.71 and a 52 week high of $127.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $131.56 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 5.29% and a negative net margin of 8.39%.The business’s revenue was up 33.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. 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.

Key Headlines 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?

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAOI. Northland Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $43.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.80.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth about $1,375,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,512,309 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $122,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,446,150 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 167.6% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 24,771 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 15,513 shares during the period. SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,453,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.