AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI's outlook is improving, though it still trails on the overall score.
ESE
ESCO Technologies Inc.
ESE 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.
ESE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
ESE'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.
ESE PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 19x | $235 | — |
| Cheap | 22x | $268 | +14% |
| Forward | 25x | $235 | — |
| Fair | 29x | $357 | +52% |
| Expensive | 42x | $511 | +117% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ESE's PE is in its cheap range at 19x. On analysts' estimates for next year's earnings, today's price would be 25x.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over ESE on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
ESE Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly deteriorating | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for ESE, but weaker profitability. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
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.
ESE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.32 | -23% |
| Q2 2026 | $12.14 | +173% |
| Q1 2026 | $11.89 | +161% |
| Q4 2025 | $11.75 | +176% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.55 | +193% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.44 | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.56 | +20% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.26 | +18% |
| Q3 2024 | $3.94 | +10% |
ESE 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 ESE 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.
ESE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $339M | +14% |
| Q1 2026 | $309.3M | +17% |
| Q4 2025 | $289.7M | +17% |
| Q3 2025 | $352.7M | +18% |
| Q2 2025 | $296.3M | +14% |
| Q1 2025 | $265.5M | +6.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $247M | +13% |
| Q3 2024 | $298.5M | +9.5% |
ESE's revenue has grown year over year for 19 quarters in a row: $339M last quarter, up 14% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 12% | +0.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 14% | -1.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 13% | +1.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 17% | +2.1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | -3.1 points |
| Q1 2025 | 15% | +3.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 12% | +3.2 points |
| Q3 2024 | 15% | -0.4 points |
ESE 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.
ESE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $47.3M | -27% |
| Q1 2026 | -$811K | -106% |
| Q4 2025 | $63M | +117% |
| Q3 2025 | $97.8M | +61% |
| Q2 2025 | $64.9M | +135% |
| Q1 2025 | $14M | +585% |
| Q4 2024 | $29M | +3126% |
| Q3 2024 | $60.9M | +44% |
ESE 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.
ESE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.2% | +42K shares |
| 1 year | +0.2% | +62K shares |
| 3 years | +0.6% | +153K shares |
| 5 years | -0.9% | -234K shares |
| Available history | -0.4% | -117K shares |
ESE has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | $809,000 |
| Q1 2024 | $5.1M |
| Q4 2023 | $2.1M |
| Q3 2023 | — |
| Q2 2023 | $184,000 |
| Q1 2023 | $8.1M |
| Q4 2022 | $4.1M |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
ESE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 0.0x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q3 2024 | 0.3x | Very low |
ESE's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 2.1 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).
ESE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 34.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 9.4 | Oversold |
ESE's weekly RSI is 34 (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.
ESE PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | ESE | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 19x | 28x | 30% below |
| PE % | 15 | 35 | 20 pts below |
ESE is trading at 19x earnings, a 30% 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.
ESE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $248.2 | 5.2% below |
| 20 week MA | $279.8 | 16% below |
| 50 week MA | $273.0 | 14% below |
| 100 week MA | $226.1 | 4.1% above |
| 200 week MA | $166.7 | 41% above |
ESE 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 ESE on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
ESE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $91.7 | $101.4 | +11% |
| 2021 | $101.4 | $86.7 | -15% |
| 2022 | $86.7 | $88.0 | +1.5% |
| 2023 | $88.0 | $117.0 | +33% |
| 2024 | $117.0 | $134.6 | +15% |
| 2025 | $134.6 | $200.5 | +49% |
| 2026 YTD | $200.5 | $235.3 | +17% |
ESE has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's up 17% so far in 2026.