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

Posted by Stanley Muller on Oct 22nd, 2026

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI – Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $78.20, but opened at $75.00. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $77.3120, with a volume of 1,917,300 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAOI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings cut Applied Optoelectronics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Applied Optoelectronics from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $147.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on AAOI

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $106.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.94. The firm has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of -99.13 and a beta of 3.85.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.04. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 9.57% and a negative return on equity of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $191.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 86.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Optoelectronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.110-0.260 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Optoelectronics news, insider Shu-Hua Yeh sold 6,000 shares of Applied Optoelectronics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.03, for a total transaction of $720,180.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 371,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,590,904.94. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Stefan Murry sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.87, for a total transaction of $411,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 363,168 shares in the company, valued at $37,359,092.16. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 56,887 shares of company stock valued at $6,581,484 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Optoelectronics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAOI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter valued at approximately $955,672,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $74,703,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the first quarter worth approximately $47,817,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the second quarter worth approximately $33,712,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Applied Optoelectronics during the second quarter worth $32,567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.70% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc (NASDAQ: AAOI) develops and manufactures fiber-optic networking products and solutions. Its offerings include optical transceivers, transmitters, receivers, lasers, and related components used to transmit data across fiber-optic networks.

The company serves several communications markets, including data centers, broadband access networks, cable television, and telecommunications. Its products are designed for applications such as high-speed data transmission, fiber-to-the-home and other broadband deployments, network connectivity, and communications infrastructure.

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Applied Optoelectronics supports customers in multiple regions, including North America, Asia, and other international markets.