AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
KN
Knowles Corporation
KN 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.
KN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Unavailable | |
| Strong |
KN's revenue, profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy. There isn't enough data to rate its cash flow.
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.
KN PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 19x | $15.29 | -55% |
| Forward | 21x | $33.99 | — |
| Fair | 35x | $28.13 | -17% |
| Current | 42x | $33.99 | — |
| Expensive | 68x | $55.04 | +62% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
KN's PE is in its fair range at 42x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 21x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
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.
KN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for KN, 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.
KN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.63 | +102% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.81 | +65% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.76 | +153% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.63 | +$3.32 |
| Q4 2025 | $0.50 | +$3.14 |
| Q3 2025 | $0.49 | +$2.83 |
| Q2 2025 | $0.30 | +$2.47 |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.69 | -406% |
| Q4 2024 | -$2.64 | -434% |
KN 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 KN on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| 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.
KN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $184M | +20% |
| Q2 2026 | $166.8M | +14% |
| Q1 2026 | $153.1M | +16% |
| Q4 2025 | $162.2M | +14% |
| Q3 2025 | $152.9M | +7.3% |
| Q2 2025 | $145.9M | -29% |
| Q1 2025 | $132.2M | -33% |
| Q4 2024 | $142.5M | -34% |
KN's revenue is recovering but still below its 2020 peak: $184M last quarter, up 20% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 17% | -0.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 15% | +4.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 10% | +7.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 16% | +5.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 17% | +3.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 10% | +125 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3% | +0.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 11% | +4.5 points |
KN 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.
KN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $37.3M | +74% |
| Q2 2026 | $21.7M | -31% |
| Q1 2026 | -$11.5M | -$8.8M |
| Q3 2025 | $21.4M | -56% |
| Q2 2025 | $31.3M | +44% |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.7M | -119% |
| Q3 2024 | $49.1M | +36% |
| Q2 2024 | $21.7M | +$25.2M |
KN still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2024 peak: $69M over the past year.
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.
KN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -200K shares |
| 1 year | +0.5% | +400K shares |
| 3 years | -4% | -3.7M shares |
| 5 years | -6.8% | -6.4M shares |
| Available history | -6.1% | -5.7M shares |
KN has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $25M |
| Q2 2026 | $15M |
| Q1 2026 | $7.5M |
| Q4 2025 | $10M |
| Q3 2025 | $20M |
| Q2 2025 | $30M |
| Q1 2025 | $5M |
| Q4 2024 | $24.2M |
KN spent $58M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 27% from 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.
KN Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q1 2024 | 1.6x | Healthy |
| Q4 2023 | 2.4x | Moderate |
KN'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).
KN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 49.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 20.7 | Neutral |
KN's weekly RSI is 49 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 21 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
KN PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | KN | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 42x | 28x | 51% above |
| PE % | 53 | 35 | 18 pts above |
KN is trading at 42x earnings, a 51% premium 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.
KN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $34.9 | 2.5% below |
| 20 week MA | $35.8 | 4.9% below |
| 50 week MA | $31.6 | 7.5% above |
| 100 week MA | $25.4 | 34% above |
| 200 week MA | $21.1 | 61% above |
KN 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.
KN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $20.9 | $18.0 | -14% |
| 2021 | $18.0 | $22.7 | +26% |
| 2022 | $22.7 | $16.3 | -28% |
| 2023 | $16.3 | $17.9 | +10% |
| 2024 | $17.9 | $20.0 | +12% |
| 2025 | $20.0 | $21.9 | +9.6% |
| 2026 YTD | $21.9 | $34.0 | +55% |
KN has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.