Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $29.10, but opened at $25.00. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $28.7170, with a volume of 3,058,783 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AAOI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Friday, July 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Northland Securities set a $30.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Down 4.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.85. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -8.30 and a beta of 2.88.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 10.60% and a negative net margin of 42.29%.The company had revenue of $118.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.21) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue was up 82.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at -0.130–0.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William H. Yeh acquired 4,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.40 per share, with a total value of $85,600.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 253,819 shares in the company, valued at $5,431,726.60. This trade represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 12,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.37, for a total transaction of $268,440.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 298,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,676,930.49. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders bought 44,100 shares of company stock valued at $1,000,878 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,624,570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $119,915,000 after purchasing an additional 551,910 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth approximately $235,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 56.7% during the third quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC now owns 21,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth $1,279,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells fiber-optic networking products in the United States, Taiwan, and China. It offers optical modules, optical filters, lasers, laser components, subassemblies, transmitters and transceivers, turn-key equipment, headend, node, distribution equipment, and amplifiers.