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

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAOI) 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 traded.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAOI. Raymond James raised Applied Optoelectronics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. B. Riley dropped their target price on shares of Applied Optoelectronics from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Applied Optoelectronics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Optoelectronics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAOI. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the fourth quarter worth about $1,501,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $16,498,000 after acquiring an additional 845,223 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 29.2% during the first 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 last quarter. Swiss National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Optoelectronics during the first quarter worth $1,123,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Optoelectronics by 88.6% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 463,213 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,420,000 after purchasing an additional 217,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.72% of the company’s stock.

Applied Optoelectronics Stock Up 11.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $564.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.98 and a beta of 1.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.59 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.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.01. Applied Optoelectronics had a negative return on equity of 19.82% and a negative net margin of 34.84%. The company had revenue of $43.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.31) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

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.