Stefan Murry Sells 4,000 Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CFO Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.76, for a total value of $451,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 280,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,580,693.20. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 5.4%

NASDAQ:AAOI opened at $127.01 on Thursday. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $128.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -195.40 and a beta of 3.20. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.32.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Applied Optoelectronics News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Company hit an all?time high after announcing a new supply deal and capacity expansion to meet hyperscaler demand. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Received first volume order for 1.6T data?center transceivers from a major hyperscaler — a direct demand and revenue catalyst if production ramps on schedule. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market reports of a large transceiver order (~$200M) add near?term revenue visibility and help justify a higher multiple while growth is proving out. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Reported solid Q4 results: revenue up ~34% YoY and gross?margin improvement, supporting management’s 800G/1.6T ramp thesis. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and sector pieces highlight the AI/photonics thematic tailwind (800G/1.6T demand) that is lifting multiples, but emphasize that timing and execution determine how much revenue actually flows. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short?interest filings appear noisy/zeroed in recent reports and don’t provide a clear bearish signal at this time (not a meaningful driver today).
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed this week (directors and the CFO sold shares), which can be interpreted as profit?taking near current highs and may weigh on sentiment. SEC filing for one of the sales: Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn the stock has already rallied massively (700%+ YTD/year) — execution risk (capacity, product mix, hyperscaler order timing), rising costs and potential tariff exposure create downside risk if ramps or margins miss expectations. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Management’s Q1 guidance implies negative EPS, so the stock is priced for strong operational execution — any near?term miss would likely prompt a sharp pullback.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in 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 during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.