AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
COHR
Coherent, Inc.
COHR 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.
COHR Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Weak | |
| Healthy |
COHR's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, but its cash flow 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.
COHR PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 20x | $232 | — |
| Cheap | 27x | $130 | -44% |
| Fair | 34x | $165 | -29% |
| Current | 48x | $232 | — |
| Expensive | 184x | $886 | +282% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
COHR's PE is in its fair range at 48x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 20x 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.
COHR Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for COHR, 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.
COHR Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $11.69 | +142% |
| Q3 2026 | $4.83 | +580% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.12 | +$4.64 |
| Q1 2026 | $2.11 | +$2.34 |
| Q4 2025 | $1.03 | +$1.44 |
| Q3 2025 | $0.71 | +$1.94 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.52 | +$1.32 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.23 | +$2.64 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.41 | +$2.41 |
COHR 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 COHR 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.
COHR Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.4B | +50% |
| Q2 2026 | $2B | +34% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.8B | +21% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.7B | +17% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.6B | +17% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.5B | +16% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.5B | +24% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.4B | +27% |
COHR's revenue has grown year over year for 10 quarters in a row: $2.4B last quarter, up 50% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 15% | +1.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 14% | +18 points |
| Q1 2026 | 10% | +9.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 10% | +1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 14% | +12 points |
| Q2 2025 | -4.2% | -9 points |
| Q1 2025 | 0.7% | -1.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 8.9% | +6.1 points |
COHR 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.
COHR Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$868.2M | -$810.2M |
| Q2 2026 | -$486.2M | -$485.2M |
| Q1 2026 | -$383.5M | -850% |
| Q4 2025 | -$95.7M | -217% |
| Q3 2025 | -$58M | -195% |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.1M | -102% |
| Q1 2025 | $51.1M | +111% |
| Q4 2024 | $81.7M | +$106M |
COHR has the edge over AAOI on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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.
COHR Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +3.4% | +6.6M shares |
| 1 year | +5.9% | +11.3M shares |
| 3 years | +34% | +51.7M shares |
| 5 years | +74% | +86.2M shares |
| Available history | +122% | +111M shares |
COHR has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | $1,000 |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
COHR Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q2 2026 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q1 2026 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q4 2025 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 4.1x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 8.1x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 5.1x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 4.6x | High |
COHR's net debt is about 1.7 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 4.1 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).
COHR Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 16.5 | Oversold |
COHR's weekly RSI is 44 (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.
COHR PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | COHR | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 48x | 28x | 72% above |
| PE % | 58 | 35 | 23 pts above |
COHR is trading at 48x earnings, a 72% 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.
COHR Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $252.9 | 8.2% below |
| 20 week MA | $284.1 | 18% below |
| 50 week MA | $277.7 | 16% below |
| 100 week MA | $185.9 | 25% above |
| 200 week MA | $120.6 | 92% above |
COHR 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 COHR on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
COHR Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $33.5 | $77.8 | +132% |
| 2021 | $77.8 | $68.0 | -13% |
| 2022 | $68.0 | $33.1 | -51% |
| 2023 | $33.1 | $43.5 | +32% |
| 2024 | $43.5 | $97.0 | +123% |
| 2025 | $97.0 | $191.7 | +98% |
| 2026 YTD | $191.7 | $232.1 | +21% |
COHR's yearly returns have swung widely, from +132% in 2020 to −51% in 2022. It's up 21% so far in 2026.