Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $20.00. The stock had previously closed at $13.03, but opened at $13.47. Rosenblatt Securities currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Optoelectronics shares last traded at $14.14, with a volume of 857,223 shares trading hands.

AAOI has been the subject of several other research reports. B. Riley reduced their price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,954,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,089,000 after purchasing an additional 442,277 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,439,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $19,950,000 after acquiring an additional 88,281 shares during the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 30.0% during 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. Shellback Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics in the 2nd quarter worth $8,617,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Optoelectronics by 9,687.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 853,948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $16,498,000 after purchasing an additional 845,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 0.6 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $597.55 million, a PE ratio of -8.03 and a beta of 1.96.

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ:AAOI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $43.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.14 million. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 19.82% and a negative net margin of 34.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.31) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.