Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) Receives $52.80 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.80.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAOI shares. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC lifted 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. 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. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, Director Elizabeth G. Loboa sold 102,347 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.76, for a total transaction of $9,800,748.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,965,282.48. This trade represents a 83.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang sold 36,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.25, for a total transaction of $3,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 233,618 shares in the company, valued at $23,420,204.50. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 326,333 shares of company stock worth $29,392,957 in the last quarter. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAOI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,982,660 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $173,696,000 after buying an additional 358,090 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 5,321.6% during the fourth 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 period. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,038,775 shares in the last quarter. 61.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 9.4%

AAOI stock opened at $95.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of -147.32 and a beta of 3.19. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52 week low of $9.71 and a 52 week high of $128.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.56 and a 200 day moving average of $41.41.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

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.