AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
BHE
Benchmark Electronics, Inc.
BHE 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.
BHE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
BHE's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
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.
BHE PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 16x | $25.39 | -61% |
| Forward | 19x | $64.81 | — |
| Fair | 26x | $40.74 | -37% |
| Current | 42x | $64.81 | — |
| Expensive | 61x | $93.51 | +44% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
BHE's PE is in its expensive range at 42x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 19x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over BHE on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
BHE Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for BHE, with profitability holding steady.
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.
BHE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $3.41 | +121% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.54 | +52% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.46 | +40% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.94 | -35% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.68 | -60% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.01 | -41% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.04 | -44% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.44 | -21% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.72 | -3.9% |
BHE 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 BHE 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.
BHE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $810.9M | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $756M | +18% |
| Q1 2026 | $677.3M | +7.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $704.3M | +7.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $680.7M | +3.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $642.3M | -3.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $631.8M | -6.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $656.9M | -5% |
BHE's revenue has grown year over year for five quarters in a row: $811M last quarter, up 19% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.8% | +0.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 4% | +0.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 3.2% | +1.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 2.9% | -1.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 3.5% | -0.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 3.2% | -0.9 points |
| Q1 2025 | 1.9% | -1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 4.3% | -0.3 points |
BHE 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.
BHE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $15.4M | -39% |
| Q2 2026 | $21.8M | +$36.9M |
| Q1 2026 | $31M | +10% |
| Q4 2025 | $48.2M | +30% |
| Q3 2025 | $25.1M | -14% |
| Q1 2025 | $28.1M | -35% |
| Q4 2024 | $37.2M | -71% |
| Q3 2024 | $29.2M | +63% |
BHE 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.
BHE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -1K shares |
| 1 year | +0.6% | +214K shares |
| 3 years | +1.4% | +520K shares |
| 5 years | +2% | +730K shares |
| Available history | -6.1% | -2.4M shares |
BHE has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $8.5M |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $5.8M |
| Q4 2025 | $854,000 |
| Q3 2025 | $10M |
| Q2 2025 | $8M |
| Q1 2025 | $8M |
| Q4 2024 | $1,000 |
BHE spent $15M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 42% from 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.
BHE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.6x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
BHE 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).
BHE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 14.1 | Oversold |
BHE's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 14 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
BHE PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | BHE | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 42x | 28x | 51% above |
| PE % | 69 | 35 | 34 pts above |
BHE is trading at 42x earnings, a 51% 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.
BHE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $72.7 | 11% below |
| 20 week MA | $76.3 | 15% below |
| 50 week MA | $68.7 | 5.7% below |
| 100 week MA | $54.4 | 19% above |
| 200 week MA | $43.0 | 51% above |
BHE 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.
BHE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $34.6 | $26.7 | -23% |
| 2021 | $26.7 | $26.4 | -1% |
| 2022 | $26.4 | $27.0 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | $27.0 | $27.6 | +2.4% |
| 2024 | $27.6 | $46.1 | +67% |
| 2025 | $46.1 | $44.8 | -2.8% |
| 2026 YTD | $44.8 | $64.8 | +45% |
BHE has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.