B. Riley Reiterates Sell Rating for Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reiterated by research analysts at B. Riley in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $15.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock. B. Riley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 47.50% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Northland Securities set a $30.00 price target on Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC started coverage on Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, July 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Applied Optoelectronics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.20.

Applied Optoelectronics Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of AAOI stock opened at $28.57 on Monday. Applied Optoelectronics has a fifty-two week low of $9.71 and a fifty-two week high of $44.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.15. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.87 and a beta of 2.88.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $118.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.77 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 36.97% and a negative return on equity of 7.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 82.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.21) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at -0.130–0.040 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Optoelectronics

In other news, Director Min-Chu (Mike) Chen acquired 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.91 per share, with a total value of $171,825.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 22,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $515,475. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William H. Yeh bought 14,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.86 per share, with a total value of $320,040.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 249,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,710,862.34. This represents a 5.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 44,100 shares of company stock worth $1,000,878. 4.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Applied Optoelectronics by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 129,490 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,988,000 after purchasing an additional 4,359 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,036 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 1,790 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 876,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,455,000 after acquiring an additional 115,853 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter worth about $291,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,779,563 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,666,000 after buying an additional 350,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Optoelectronics

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.