AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
CRM
Salesforce, Inc.
CRM has the edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger valuation.
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.
CRM Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Stable |
CRM's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its balance sheet is stable.
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.
CRM PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 20x | $218 | — |
| Cheap | 36x | $393 | +80% |
| Fair | 70x | $766 | +252% |
| Expensive | 293x | $3,206 | +1374% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CRM's PE is in its cheap range at 20x, but its recent earnings include one-off gains.
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.
CRM Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for CRM to show an outlook.
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.
CRM Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $10.96 | +59% |
| Q2 2026 | $8.63 | +35% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.80 | +23% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.49 | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.88 | +20% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.39 | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $6.36 | +51% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.08 | +131% |
CRM 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 CRM 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.
CRM Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11.3B | +11% |
| Q2 2026 | $11.1B | +13% |
| Q1 2026 | $11.2B | +12% |
| Q4 2025 | $10.3B | +8.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $10.2B | +9.8% |
| Q2 2025 | $9.8B | +7.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $10B | +7.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $9.4B | +8.3% |
CRM's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $11.3B last quarter, up 11% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 21% | -2.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | +1.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 17% | -1.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | 21% | +1.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 23% | +3.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 20% | +1.1 points |
| Q1 2025 | 18% | +0.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 20% | +2.8 points |
CRM 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.
CRM Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.1B | +81% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.6B | +4.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.3B | +39% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.2B | +22% |
| Q3 2025 | $605M | -20% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.3B | +3.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.8B | +17% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.8B | +30% |
CRM 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.
CRM Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -5.7% | -50M shares |
| 1 year | -15% | -141M shares |
| 3 years | -17% | -165M shares |
| 5 years | -14% | -129M shares |
| Available history | -6.6% | -58M shares |
CRM has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $84M |
| Q2 2026 | $27.2B |
| Q1 2026 | $3.9B |
| Q4 2025 | $3.8B |
| Q3 2025 | $2.2B |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B |
| Q1 2025 | $76M |
| Q4 2024 | $1.3B |
CRM spent $35.1B buying back its own shares over the past year, about six 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.
CRM Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.5x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.4x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.0x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | 0.0x | Very low |
CRM's net debt is about 2.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), after holding more cash than debt 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).
CRM Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 44.2 | Neutral |
CRM's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 44 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CRM PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | CRM | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 20x | 28x | 29% below |
| PE % | 2 | 35 | 33 pts below |
CRM is trading at 20x earnings, a 29% discount to the Technology sector's median of 28x, though its recent earnings include one-off gains.
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.
CRM Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $230.9 | 5.8% below |
| 20 week MA | $214.7 | 1.3% above |
| 50 week MA | $206.8 | 5.2% above |
| 100 week MA | $239.7 | 9.2% below |
| 200 week MA | $242.0 | 10% below |
CRM 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 CRM on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
CRM Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $165.0 | $225.8 | +37% |
| 2021 | $225.8 | $253.1 | +12% |
| 2022 | $253.1 | $129.4 | -49% |
| 2023 | $129.4 | $263.1 | +103% |
| 2024 | $263.1 | $338.5 | +29% |
| 2025 | $338.5 | $266.1 | -21% |
| 2026 YTD | $266.1 | $217.6 | -18% |
CRM's yearly returns have swung widely, from +103% in 2023 to −49% in 2022. It's down 18% so far in 2026.