AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has a slight edge over ACLS overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger valuation.
ACLS
Axcelis Technologies, Inc.
ACLS has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
AAOI Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Under pressure | |
| Weak | |
| Unavailable |
AAOI's revenue is currently strong, but its profitability and cash flow are under pressure. There isn't enough data to rate its balance sheet.
ACLS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Strong |
ACLS's revenue and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its profitability and cash flow are stable.
AAOI PE Valuation
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year. If it returns to profit as analysts expect, today's price would be 18x next year's earnings.
ACLS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 14x | $48.20 | -55% |
| Forward | 18x | $108 | — |
| Fair | 22x | $73.95 | -32% |
| Current | 32x | $108 | — |
| Expensive | 34x | $113 | +4.9% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ACLS's PE is in its expensive range at 32x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 18x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect AAOI to return to profit, with revenue growing. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
ACLS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for ACLS, with profitability improving.
AAOI Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.98 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.42 | +$3.02 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.77 | +$2.81 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.65 | +$3.43 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.64 | +$3.86 |
| Q3 2025 | -$3.44 | -$1.41 |
| Q2 2025 | -$3.58 | -$1.70 |
| Q1 2025 | -$4.08 | -$2.29 |
| Q4 2024 | -$4.50 | -$2.75 |
AAOI is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.42 per share over the past year, against $4.50 at its worst in late 2024.
ACLS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $6.05 | +80% |
| Q3 2026 | $3.37 | -20% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.99 | -39% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.22 | -41% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.80 | -38% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.23 | -37% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.89 | -33% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.46 | -28% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.15 | -17% |
ACLS has the edge over AAOI on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
AAOI Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $269.9M | +127% |
| Q2 2026 | $191.9M | +86% |
| Q1 2026 | $151.1M | +51% |
| Q4 2025 | $134.3M | +34% |
| Q3 2025 | $118.6M | +82% |
| Q2 2025 | $103M | +138% |
| Q1 2025 | $99.9M | +146% |
| Q4 2024 | $100.3M | +66% |
AAOI has the edge over ACLS on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.5% | +15 points |
| Q2 2026 | -13% | +2.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | -8.6% | +0.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | -8.6% | -2.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | -15% | +10 points |
| Q2 2025 | -16% | +45 points |
| Q1 2025 | -8.9% | +44 points |
| Q4 2024 | -6.5% | +1 points |
AAOI's operating margin was −0.5% last quarter, up 15 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
ACLS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $237.8M | +11% |
| Q2 2026 | $215.2M | +11% |
| Q1 2026 | $199M | +3.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $238.3M | -5.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $213.6M | -17% |
| Q2 2025 | $194.5M | -24% |
| Q1 2025 | $192.6M | -24% |
| Q4 2024 | $252.4M | -19% |
ACLS's revenue is recovering but still below its 2023 peak: $238M last quarter, up 11% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 12% | -0.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 9.4% | -5.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 4% | -11 points |
| Q4 2025 | 15% | -6.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 12% | -6.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 15% | -5.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 15% | -7.3 points |
| Q4 2024 | 22% | -3.9 points |
ACLS has the edge over AAOI on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
AAOI Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$369.9M | -$291.2M |
| Q2 2026 | -$265.3M | -$174.4M |
| Q1 2026 | -$143.6M | -$64.3M |
| Q4 2025 | -$104.6M | -$51.6M |
| Q3 2025 | -$78.7M | -$58M |
| Q2 2025 | -$91M | -$86M |
| Q1 2025 | -$79.3M | -$45.1M |
| Q4 2024 | -$53M | -$48.4M |
AAOI has burned cash in almost every quarter: −$883M over the past year, against −$302M the year before.
ACLS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $37.7M | -13% |
| Q2 2026 | $14.8M | -61% |
| Q1 2026 | $16.3M | -53% |
| Q4 2025 | -$8.9M | -210% |
| Q3 2025 | $43.3M | +3.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $37.7M | -0.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $34.8M | -14% |
| Q4 2024 | $8.1M | -85% |
ACLS has the edge over AAOI on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
AAOI Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +7.7% | +6.3M shares |
| 1 year | +39% | +24.5M shares |
| 3 years | +168% | +55.1M shares |
| 5 years | +224% | +60.7M shares |
| Available history | +340% | +67.9M shares |
AAOI has 88M diluted shares, up 39% from a year ago.
ACLS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.1% | -29K shares |
| 1 year | -1.1% | -345K shares |
| 3 years | -6.2% | -2.1M shares |
| 5 years | -8.8% | -3M shares |
| Available history | -8% | -2.7M shares |
ACLS has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | $25.2M |
| Q3 2025 | $32.3M |
| Q2 2025 | $45.3M |
| Q1 2025 | $18.2M |
| Q4 2024 | $15.1M |
| Q3 2024 | $15.4M |
| Q2 2024 | $15M |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
ACLS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.7x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.5x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -1.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.1x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -1.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -1.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.6x | Net Cash |
ACLS has more cash than debt.
AAOI Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 35.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 4.8 | Oversold |
AAOI's weekly RSI is 35 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 5 (oversold).
ACLS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 44.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 23.9 | Neutral |
ACLS's weekly RSI is 44 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 24 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
ACLS PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | ACLS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 32x | 28x | 15% above |
| PE % | 82 | 35 | 47 pts above |
ACLS is trading at 32x earnings, a 15% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
AAOI Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $80.2 | 34% below |
| 20 week MA | $100.6 | 47% below |
| 50 week MA | $100.3 | 47% below |
| 100 week MA | $62.3 | 15% below |
| 200 week MA | $36.9 | 43% above |
AAOI has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 43% above its 200-week average.
ACLS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $116.0 | 6.8% below |
| 20 week MA | $123.9 | 13% below |
| 50 week MA | $117.7 | 8.2% below |
| 100 week MA | $93.6 | 15% above |
| 200 week MA | $110.6 | 2.3% below |
ACLS's trend is mixed: it's above one of its five weekly moving averages, and 2.3% below its 200-week average.
AAOI Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $11.5 | $8.77 | -24% |
| 2021 | $8.77 | $5.64 | -36% |
| 2022 | $5.64 | $1.95 | -65% |
| 2023 | $1.95 | $19.3 | +891% |
| 2024 | $19.3 | $37.7 | +95% |
| 2025 | $37.7 | $37.2 | -1.5% |
| 2026 YTD | $37.2 | $52.9 | +42% |
AAOI has the edge over ACLS on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
ACLS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $24.2 | $29.2 | +21% |
| 2021 | $29.2 | $68.1 | +133% |
| 2022 | $68.1 | $80.3 | +18% |
| 2023 | $80.3 | $129.7 | +62% |
| 2024 | $129.7 | $71.2 | -45% |
| 2025 | $71.2 | $82.6 | +16% |
| 2026 YTD | $82.6 | $108.1 | +31% |
ACLS's yearly returns have swung widely, from +133% in 2021 to −45% in 2024. It's up 31% so far in 2026.