AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has the edge over CREX overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
CREX
Creative Realities, Inc.
CREX 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.
CREX Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Weak | |
| Weak | |
| Stable |
CREX's revenue is currently strong, and its balance sheet is stable, but its profitability and cash flow are 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.
CREX PE Valuation
CREX 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.
CREX Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect CREX's losses to shrink, with revenue growing.
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 has the edge over CREX on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
CREX Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -$2.11 | -$1.99 |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.87 | -$1.86 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.81 | -$0.47 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.88 | -729% |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.12 | -$0.03 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.01 | +$0.21 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.34 | +$0.01 |
| Q3 2022 | $0.15 | -55% |
CREX is still losing money, but far less than before: $2.11 per share over the past year, against $5.16 at its worst in late 2020.
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 CREX 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 has the edge over CREX on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
CREX Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $21.5M | +65% |
| Q1 2026 | $16.3M | +68% |
| Q4 2025 | $23.9M | +117% |
| Q3 2025 | $10.5M | -27% |
| Q2 2025 | $13M | -0.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $9.7M | -21% |
| Q4 2024 | $11M | -24% |
| Q3 2024 | $14.4M | +25% |
CREX's revenue is recovering but still below its 2022 peak: $22M last quarter, up 65% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -13% | -2.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | -38% | -31 points |
| Q4 2025 | 1.9% | +8.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | -69% | -77 points |
| Q2 2025 | -10% | -15 points |
| Q1 2025 | -7.4% | -6.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | -6.5% | -20 points |
| Q3 2024 | 7.9% | +6.5 points |
CREX's operating margin was −13% last quarter, down 2.5 points from the same quarter a year ago.
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.
CREX Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $457K | -32% |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.9M | +$551K |
| Q4 2025 | -$7M | -$5.6M |
| Q3 2025 | -$1.7M | -415% |
| Q2 2025 | $672K | -70% |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.5M | -227% |
| Q4 2024 | -$1.4M | +$1.8M |
| Q3 2024 | $543K | -71% |
CREX 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.
CREX Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.2% | +16K shares |
| 1 year | +1.2% | +121K shares |
| 3 years | +44% | +3.2M shares |
| 5 years | +211% | +7.2M shares |
CREX has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
CREX Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2024 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q4 2023 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q3 2023 | 4.8x | High |
| Q2 2023 | 13.2x | High |
| Q1 2023 | 10.0x | High |
| Q4 2022 | 45.2x | High |
| Q4 2019 | 4.9x | High |
CREX's net debt is about 2.1 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 10 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).
CREX Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 33.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 8.9 | Oversold |
CREX's weekly RSI is 33 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 9 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CREX PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | CREX | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 28x | — |
CREX 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 the edge over CREX on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
CREX Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $2.25 | 4.4% below |
| 20 week MA | $2.79 | 23% below |
| 50 week MA | $3.20 | 33% below |
| 100 week MA | $2.87 | 25% below |
| 200 week MA | $2.98 | 28% below |
CREX is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 28% 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 CREX on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
CREX Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4.20 | $3.90 | -7.1% |
| 2021 | $3.90 | $4.38 | +12% |
| 2022 | $4.38 | $1.71 | -61% |
| 2023 | $1.71 | $2.36 | +38% |
| 2024 | $2.36 | $2.69 | +14% |
| 2025 | $2.69 | $2.66 | -1.1% |
| 2026 YTD | $2.66 | $2.15 | -19% |
CREX has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 19% so far in 2026.