AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
ITRN
Ituran Location and Control Ltd.
ITRN 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.
ITRN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
ITRN'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.
ITRN PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 11x | $36.54 | -26% |
| Forward | 12x | $49.12 | — |
| Fair | 14x | $44.85 | -8.7% |
| Current | 15x | $49.12 | — |
| Expensive | 18x | $59.34 | +21% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ITRN's PE is in its fair range at 15x. 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.
ITRN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for ITRN, 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.
ITRN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $3.93 | +21% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.24 | +16% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.04 | +9.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.92 | +7.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.85 | +9.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.80 | +9.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.78 | +11% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.71 | +13% |
| Q3 2024 | $2.61 | +15% |
ITRN 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 ITRN 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.
ITRN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $104.8M | +21% |
| Q1 2026 | $102.7M | +19% |
| Q4 2025 | $93.5M | +13% |
| Q3 2025 | $92.3M | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $86.8M | +2.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $86.5M | +1.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $82.9M | +6.5% |
| Q3 2024 | $83.5M | +3% |
ITRN's revenue has grown year over year for 21 quarters in a row: $105M last quarter, up 21% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 23% | +1.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 21% | -0.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 22% | 0 points |
| Q3 2025 | 21% | -0.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 21% | +0.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 22% | +1.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 22% | +0.7 points |
| Q3 2024 | 22% | +1.2 points |
ITRN 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.
ITRN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $25.6M | +49% |
| Q1 2026 | $12.9M | +46% |
| Q4 2025 | $26.9M | +48% |
| Q3 2025 | $17.8M | +24% |
| Q2 2025 | $17.2M | -13% |
| Q1 2025 | $8.8M | +7% |
| Q4 2024 | $18.2M | +2.7% |
| Q3 2024 | $14.4M | -13% |
ITRN 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.
ITRN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -35K shares |
| 1 year | -0.6% | -121K shares |
| 3 years | -1.7% | -345K shares |
| 5 years | -5% | -1M shares |
| Available history | -6% | -1.3M shares |
ITRN has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $3M |
| Q1 2026 | $531,000 |
| Q4 2025 | $1.7M |
| Q3 2025 | $1.5M |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
ITRN spent $7M buying back its own shares over the past year, after none 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.
ITRN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -1.0x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.0x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2024 | -0.7x | Net Cash |
ITRN 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).
ITRN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 41.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 19.4 | Oversold |
ITRN's weekly RSI is 41 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 19 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
ITRN PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | ITRN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 15x | 28x | 46% below |
| PE % | 64 | 35 | 29 pts above |
ITRN is trading at 15x earnings, a 46% 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.
ITRN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $51.0 | 3.7% below |
| 20 week MA | $52.5 | 6.5% below |
| 50 week MA | $52.1 | 5.8% below |
| 100 week MA | $44.3 | 11% above |
| 200 week MA | $35.1 | 40% above |
ITRN 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 ITRN on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
ITRN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $25.0 | $19.0 | -24% |
| 2021 | $19.0 | $26.0 | +37% |
| 2022 | $26.0 | $21.5 | -17% |
| 2023 | $21.5 | $27.2 | +27% |
| 2024 | $27.2 | $30.3 | +11% |
| 2025 | $30.3 | $43.4 | +43% |
| 2026 YTD | $43.4 | $49.1 | +13% |
ITRN has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's up 13% so far in 2026.