AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
KARO
Karooooo Ltd.
KARO has a slight edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside.
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.
KARO Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Strong |
KARO'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.
KARO PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 23x | $46.58 | -27% |
| Fair | 26x | $53.02 | -17% |
| Current | 31x | $63.60 | — |
| Expensive | 32x | $65.96 | +3.7% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
KARO's PE is 31x, but its earnings don't support one, so it isn't a reliable read right now.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over KARO on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
KARO Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for KARO, with profitability holding steady.
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.
KARO Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.07 | +6.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.99 | +5.9% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.93 | +7.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.00 | +16% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.95 | +20% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.88 | +20% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.80 | +23% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.72 | +28% |
KARO 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 KARO 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.
KARO Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $98.8M | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $94.2M | +22% |
| Q1 2026 | $87.3M | +19% |
| Q4 2025 | $84.9M | +22% |
| Q3 2025 | $81M | +21% |
| Q2 2025 | $76.9M | +18% |
| Q1 2025 | $73.5M | +12% |
| Q4 2024 | $69.8M | +7.3% |
KARO's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $99M last quarter, up 22% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 26% | -0.7 points |
| Q2 2026 | 26% | -1.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 23% | -8.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 26% | -1.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 26% | -0.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 28% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 32% | +4.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 28% | +2.6 points |
KARO 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.
KARO Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $0 | $0 |
| Q2 2026 | $3.6M | +$3.6M |
| Q1 2026 | $0 | $0 |
| Q4 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q3 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q2 2025 | $0 | -100% |
| Q1 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q4 2024 | $0 | $0 |
KARO 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.
KARO Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -- |
| 1 year | 0% | -- |
| 3 years | -0.2% | -58K shares |
| 5 years | -0.2% | -58.1K shares |
| Available history | +52% | +10.6M shares |
KARO has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
KARO hasn't bought back shares in the past year.
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
KARO Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | -0.0x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.0x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
KARO's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
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).
KARO Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 57.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 61.6 | Neutral |
KARO's weekly RSI is 58 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 62 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
KARO PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | KARO | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 31x | 28x | 10% above |
| PE % | 76 | 41 | 35 pts above |
KARO is trading at 31x earnings, a 10% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x, though its earnings don't support one.
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.
KARO Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $62.4 | 1.9% above |
| 20 week MA | $62.8 | 1.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $53.9 | 18% above |
| 100 week MA | $50.7 | 25% above |
| 200 week MA | $39.5 | 61% above |
KARO 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 KARO on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
KARO Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $34.0 | $36.2 | +6.4% |
| 2022 | $36.2 | $23.1 | -36% |
| 2023 | $23.1 | $24.3 | +5.3% |
| 2024 | $24.3 | $45.9 | +89% |
| 2025 | $45.9 | $47.4 | +3.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $47.4 | $63.6 | +34% |
KARO has finished higher in four of the last five years. It's up 34% so far in 2026.