Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Issues Q3 2026 Earnings Guidance

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) issued an update on its third quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.110-0.260 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 0.270. The company issued revenue guidance of $255.0 million-$290.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $265.7 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAOI. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $260.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Optoelectronics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 3.4%

NASDAQ:AAOI traded down $4.34 on Thursday, hitting $124.22. The stock had a trading volume of 15,005,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,766,170. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Applied Optoelectronics has a 52 week low of $18.50 and a 52 week high of $233.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $137.79 and its 200 day moving average is $118.02. The company has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of -188.21 and a beta of 3.76.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.04. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 4.64% and a negative net margin of 8.55%.The company had revenue of $191.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.48 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics’s quarterly revenue was up 86.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh sold 39,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $6,783,822.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 462,430 shares in the company, valued at $80,120,621.80. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Cynthia Delaney sold 56,575 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.23, for a total transaction of $10,705,687.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 59,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,287,001.81. The trade was a 48.68% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 506,215 shares of company stock valued at $87,409,447. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 10.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 25,579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at $377,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 36.0% in the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 17,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 60,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,562,000 after purchasing an additional 20,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $952,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.