Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin Sells 58,000 Shares of Stock

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $10,049,080.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,255,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $390,821,369.18. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

Shares of AAOI opened at $171.33 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.06 and a 12 month high of $233.67. The company has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -259.59 and a beta of 3.76.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.02). Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.55% and a negative return on equity of 4.64%. The business had revenue of $151.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.030-0.030 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Optoelectronics News Summary

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

• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin sold 58,000 shares, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 33,000 shares, and other insiders also sold stock, but the company said the transactions were tied to tax withholding on equity award vesting.
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Optoelectronics recently filed a prospectus supplement for a $600 million at-the-market stock offering, which raised investor concerns about potential dilution and added a near-term overhang.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remains constructive overall, with recent buy ratings and a bullish thesis tied to strong hyperscaler demand for AI optical infrastructure and expanding demand for 800G and 1.6T optics.
• Negative Sentiment: The stock has also been hit by profit-taking after a sharp run-up, with market commentary noting that AAOI and other AI optics names are pulling back as investors lock in gains.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAOI. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 5,208.9% in the 4th 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 position 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 valued at $77,730,000 after buying an additional 2,188,630 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,038,775 shares during the last quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 106.2% in 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, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,923,000. 61.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAOI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Northland Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.80.

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.