AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
GCT
GigaCloud Technology Inc.
GCT has the edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger fundamentals.
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.
GCT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Strong |
GCT's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its cash flow 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.
GCT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 6.7x | $31.18 | -52% |
| Fair | 9.6x | $44.23 | -32% |
| Forward | 12x | $64.79 | — |
| Expensive | 13x | $58.32 | -10% |
| Current | 14x | $64.79 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
GCT's PE is in its expensive range at 14x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 12x next year's earnings.
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.
GCT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for GCT, 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.
GCT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.61 | +21% |
| Q3 2026 | $4.62 | +38% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.20 | +26% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.95 | +29% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.59 | +18% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.34 | +5.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.33 | +20% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.07 | +19% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.05 | +33% |
GCT 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 GCT 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.
GCT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $423.6M | +27% |
| Q2 2026 | $411.6M | +28% |
| Q1 2026 | $359.5M | +32% |
| Q4 2025 | $362.7M | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $332.6M | +9.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $322.6M | +3.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $271.9M | +8.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $295.8M | +21% |
GCT's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since early 2021: $424M last quarter, up 27% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 14% | +1.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 12% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 12% | +1.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 11% | +1.8 points |
| Q3 2025 | 12% | -1.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | +2.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 10% | -3.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 9.3% | -5.8 points |
GCT 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.
GCT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $55.8M | -28% |
| Q2 2026 | $45.1M | +22% |
| Q1 2026 | -$26.2M | -472% |
| Q4 2025 | $61.7M | -7.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $77.1M | +50% |
| Q2 2025 | $37M | +187% |
| Q1 2025 | $7M | -38% |
| Q4 2024 | $66.9M | +42% |
GCT 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.
GCT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -2% | -722K shares |
| 1 year | -4.7% | -1.8M shares |
| 3 years | -12% | -5.1M shares |
| 5 years | -11% | -4.4M shares |
| Available history | +277% | +26.3M shares |
GCT has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $17.7M |
| Q2 2026 | $30M |
| Q1 2026 | $12.3M |
| Q1 2025 | $22.7M |
| Q4 2024 | $23.2M |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | $1.5M |
| Q2 2023 | — |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
GCT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -2.0x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -2.5x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -2.4x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -1.7x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
GCT 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).
GCT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 75.7 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 79.3 | Neutral |
GCT's weekly RSI is 76 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 79 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
GCT PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | GCT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 14x | 28x | 50% below |
| PE % | 91 | 43 | 48 pts above |
GCT is trading at 14x earnings, a 50% 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.
GCT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $57.8 | 12% above |
| 20 week MA | $50.6 | 28% above |
| 50 week MA | $44.2 | 46% above |
| 100 week MA | $33.1 | 96% above |
| 200 week MA | $25.6 | 153% above |
GCT 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's yearly returns have swung widely, from +891% in 2023 to −65% in 2022. It's up 42% so far in 2026.
GCT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $48.0 | $5.53 | -88% |
| 2023 | $5.53 | $18.3 | +231% |
| 2024 | $18.3 | $17.6 | -4% |
| 2025 | $17.6 | $40.2 | +129% |
| 2026 YTD | $40.2 | $64.8 | +61% |
GCT has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.