AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
APPN
Appian Corporation
APPN has a slight edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger fundamentals.
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.
APPN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Weak |
APPN's revenue is currently healthy, and its profitability and cash flow are stable, but its balance sheet is weak.
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.
APPN PE Valuation
APPN has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
APPN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for APPN, 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.
APPN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.39 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.07 | +$0.03 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.14 | +$0.09 |
| Q1 2026 | $0.02 | +$0.85 |
| Q4 2025 | $0.02 | +$1.28 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.10 | +$1.11 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.23 | +$1.25 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.83 | +$0.63 |
| Q4 2024 | -$1.26 | +$0.26 |
APPN has the edge over AAOI on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 APPN on sales, with stronger typical year-over-year growth.
| 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.
APPN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $234.6M | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $203.3M | +19% |
| Q1 2026 | $202.2M | +21% |
| Q4 2025 | $202.9M | +22% |
| Q3 2025 | $187M | +21% |
| Q2 2025 | $170.6M | +17% |
| Q1 2025 | $166.4M | +11% |
| Q4 2024 | $166.7M | +15% |
APPN's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $235M last quarter, up 25% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.1% | +2.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | -2.7% | +3.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 1.6% | +2.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | -0.3% | -3.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 7% | +12 points |
| Q2 2025 | -6.4% | +20 points |
| Q1 2025 | -0.5% | +13 points |
| Q4 2024 | 3% | +15 points |
APPN 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.
APPN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$20M | -211% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.8M | +$12.9M |
| Q1 2026 | $48.6M | +9.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $270K | -98% |
| Q3 2025 | $18.1M | +$26.7M |
| Q2 2025 | -$3.1M | +$15.3M |
| Q1 2025 | $44.3M | +166% |
| Q4 2024 | $13.4M | +$23M |
APPN 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.
APPN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -155K shares |
| 1 year | -2.5% | -1.8M shares |
| 3 years | -0.6% | -437K shares |
| 5 years | +2.3% | +1.6M shares |
| Available history | +11% | +7.3M shares |
APPN has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $17.3M |
| Q2 2026 | $43.9M |
| Q1 2026 | $21.8M |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | $10M |
| Q2 2025 | $10M |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
APPN spent $83M buying back its own shares over the past year, about four times what it spent the year before.
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
APPN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5.4x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 5.9x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 6.3x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 10.2x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 7.4x | High |
APPN's net debt is about 5.4 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 7.4 years a year ago.
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).
APPN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 73.0 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 87.4 | Overbought |
APPN's weekly RSI is 73 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 87 (overbought).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
APPN PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | APPN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 28x | — |
APPN has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
APPN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $45.3 | 22% above |
| 20 week MA | $37.5 | 47% above |
| 50 week MA | $30.9 | 78% above |
| 100 week MA | $31.3 | 76% above |
| 200 week MA | $34.8 | 58% above |
APPN has the edge over AAOI on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
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's yearly returns have swung widely, from +891% in 2023 to −65% in 2022. It's up 42% so far in 2026.
APPN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $37.7 | $158.0 | +319% |
| 2021 | $158.0 | $72.0 | -54% |
| 2022 | $72.0 | $33.8 | -53% |
| 2023 | $33.8 | $37.7 | +11% |
| 2024 | $37.7 | $33.4 | -11% |
| 2025 | $33.4 | $35.8 | +7.1% |
| 2026 YTD | $35.8 | $55.2 | +54% |
APPN has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.