Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Price Target Raised to $80.00

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

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

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

AAOI opened at $84.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.16 and its 200-day moving average is $32.72. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a PE ratio of -129.58 and a beta of 3.19. Applied Optoelectronics has a twelve month low of $9.71 and a twelve month high of $84.31.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.11. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 8.39% and a negative return on equity of 5.29%. The firm had revenue of $134.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. Applied Optoelectronics’s revenue 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. On average, analysts predict that Applied Optoelectronics will post -1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Optoelectronics

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, CFO Stefan J. Murry sold 11,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $587,573.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 290,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,575,012.50. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David C. Kuo sold 17,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.17, for a total transaction of $876,319.39. Following the transaction, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,520 shares of company stock worth $3,080,367. Company insiders own 4.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 1,923.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Applied Optoelectronics by 497.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 962 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 166.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. 61.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Applied Optoelectronics News

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.