Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Trading 8.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) shot up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $16.93 and last traded at $16.93. 959,062 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 2,443,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAOI. Raymond James raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. B. Riley reduced their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 7.0 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $683.85 million, a P/E ratio of -8.86 and a beta of 1.96.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative net margin of 34.84% and a negative return on equity of 19.82%. The firm had revenue of $43.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.31) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David C. Kuo sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $150,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 132,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,996,473.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Shellback Capital LP bought a new position in Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,617,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,089,000 after acquiring an additional 442,277 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 550.5% in the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 411,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,408,000 after acquiring an additional 347,867 shares during the period. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,333,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,489,000 after acquiring an additional 308,172 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 88.6% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 463,213 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,420,000 after acquiring an additional 217,624 shares during the period. 61.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.