Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) had its target price increased by Needham & Company LLC from $43.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on AAOI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $45.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.80.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Up 56.9%

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock traded up $30.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.23. 24,488,392 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,989,014. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.58 and a beta of 3.32. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $84.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.59.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. The firm 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 6.22%. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue was up 33.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.02) earnings per share. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.090-0.000 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $587,573.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 290,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,575,012.50. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total value of $876,319.39. Following the sale, the insider owned 111,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,602,132.71. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,520 shares of company stock worth $3,080,367. Insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 497.5% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and revenue strength: AAOI reported a $0.01 loss per share vs. consensus -$0.12 and revenue of $134.3M, up ~34% year-over-year — both results topped estimates and underpinned the rally. MarketBeat earnings summary
• Positive Sentiment: Upside revenue guidance: Management raised Q1 2026 revenue guidance to $150M–$165M, above consensus, signaling continued demand — a key driver for investor optimism. GlobeNewswire press release
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish write-up highlighting large growth potential: 247WallStreet published a bullish piece framing AAOI as entering a “10x moment” with aggressive revenue projections that likely boosted speculative buying interest. AAOI’s 10x Moment
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / target increase from Needham: Needham raised its price target to $80 and maintained a “buy” rating, lending institutional validation to the recent beat and outlook. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: EPS still a small loss despite beat: The company reported a small GAAP loss but beat the much larger consensus loss estimate — a mixed data point for profitability progress. Zacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Conference call and detailed release available for off-cycle color: Investors should review the earnings call transcript and press release for product, margin and backlog details that will determine sustainability of the beat. Earnings call (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst targets remain below current levels: Northland reaffirmed a “market perform” with a $55 target and B. Riley’s $54 target (despite an upgrade to neutral) both imply sizable downside from current prices — a restraint on further upside until fundamentals confirm sustainability. Finviz Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data appears inconsistent: Public short-interest reports in the feed show zero shares/NaN changes (likely data errors) — ignore until verified; actual short-covering could amplify moves but current data is unreliable.

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.