AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CLS
Celestica Inc.
CLS has the edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
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.
CLS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
CLS'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.
CLS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 11x | $115 | -55% |
| Forward | 14x | $254 | — |
| Fair | 17x | $184 | -28% |
| Current | 24x | $254 | — |
| Expensive | 39x | $411 | +62% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CLS's PE is in its fair range at 24x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 14x 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 CLS on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
CLS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for CLS, 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.
CLS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $17.88 | +70% |
| Q3 2026 | $10.55 | +75% |
| Q2 2026 | $9.60 | +114% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.25 | +138% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.16 | +105% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.03 | +98% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.49 | +53% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.47 | +33% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.50 | +72% |
CLS 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 CLS 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.
CLS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.8B | +83% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.7B | +62% |
| Q1 2026 | $4B | +53% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.7B | +44% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.2B | +28% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.9B | +21% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.6B | +20% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.5B | +19% |
CLS's revenue has grown year over year for 20 quarters in a row: $5.8B last quarter, up 83% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.9% | -2.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 9.8% | +0.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 6.7% | +1.9 points |
| Q4 2025 | 8.6% | +0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 10% | +4.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 9.4% | +3.9 points |
| Q1 2025 | 4.9% | -0.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 7.7% | +2.1 points |
CLS 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.
CLS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $115.6M | +30% |
| Q2 2026 | $147.1M | +23% |
| Q1 2026 | $126.8M | +35% |
| Q4 2025 | $155.9M | +471% |
| Q3 2025 | $88.9M | -10% |
| Q2 2025 | $119.9M | +91% |
| Q1 2025 | $93.6M | +38% |
| Q4 2024 | $27.3M | -74% |
CLS 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.
CLS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +4.8% | +5.6M shares |
| 1 year | +5.1% | +5.9M shares |
| 3 years | +1.8% | +2.2M shares |
| 5 years | -2.9% | -3.7M shares |
| Available history | -5.2% | -6.7M shares |
CLS has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $22.6M |
| Q4 2025 | $35.7M |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | $40M |
| Q1 2025 | $77.7M |
| Q4 2024 | $25.5M |
CLS spent $58M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 59% 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.
CLS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.5x | Very low |
CLS 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).
CLS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 15.5 | Oversold |
CLS's weekly RSI is 42 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 16 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CLS PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | CLS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 28x | 14% below |
| PE % | 64 | 35 | 29 pts above |
CLS is trading at 24x earnings, a 14% discount 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.
CLS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $300.6 | 15% below |
| 20 week MA | $313.9 | 19% below |
| 50 week MA | $321.3 | 21% below |
| 100 week MA | $243.1 | 4.5% above |
| 200 week MA | $139.6 | 82% above |
CLS 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 has the edge over CLS on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
CLS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $8.11 | $7.71 | -4.9% |
| 2021 | $7.71 | $10.9 | +41% |
| 2022 | $10.9 | $10.9 | -0.2% |
| 2023 | $10.9 | $29.3 | +170% |
| 2024 | $29.3 | $95.1 | +225% |
| 2025 | $95.1 | $303.6 | +219% |
| 2026 YTD | $303.6 | $254.0 | -16% |
CLS has finished higher in four of the last six years, three of them by more than 50%. It's down 16% so far in 2026.