AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has the edge over LYTS overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger valuation.
LYTS
LSI Industries Inc.
LYTS has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
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.
LYTS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure |
LYTS's revenue and cash flow are currently healthy, and its profitability is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
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.
LYTS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 16x | $10.33 | -32% |
| Fair | 23x | $14.21 | -6.7% |
| Current | 24x | $15.22 | — |
| Expensive | 31x | $19.44 | +28% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
LYTS's PE is in its fair range at 24x.
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.
LYTS Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for LYTS to show an outlook.
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.
LYTS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $0.63 | -21% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.67 | -15% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.75 | +4.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.82 | +6.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.80 | +1.3% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.79 | -6% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.72 | -23% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.77 | -15% |
LYTS 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 LYTS 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.
LYTS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $225.9M | +44% |
| Q2 2026 | $234.6M | +51% |
| Q1 2026 | $150.5M | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $147M | -0.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $157.2M | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $155.1M | +20% |
| Q1 2025 | $132.5M | +22% |
| Q4 2024 | $147.7M | +36% |
LYTS's revenue is growing: $226M last quarter, up 44% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 6.3% | -0.7 points |
| Q2 2026 | 6.2% | -1.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 2.7% | -2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 6% | +0.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 7% | +0.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 7.7% | +0.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 4.7% | -2.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 5.7% | -1.4 points |
LYTS 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.
LYTS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $13.8M | +$14.1M |
| Q2 2026 | $9.8M | +14% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.2M | +0.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $23.3M | +164% |
| Q3 2025 | -$291K | -103% |
| Q2 2025 | $8.5M | -17% |
| Q1 2025 | $6.2M | -44% |
| Q4 2024 | $8.8M | +21% |
LYTS 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.
LYTS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +12% | +4.2M shares |
| 1 year | +21% | +6.5M shares |
| 3 years | +26% | +7.9M shares |
| 5 years | +37% | +10.1M shares |
| Available history | +43% | +11.4M shares |
LYTS has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
LYTS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.7x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 4.4x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 5.1x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 0.4x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.1x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 0.7x | Very low |
LYTS's net debt is about 3.7 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from less than a year 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).
LYTS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 28.9 | Oversold |
| Stochastic | 6.2 | Oversold |
LYTS's weekly RSI is 29 (oversold) and its Stochastic is 6 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
LYTS PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | LYTS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 24x | 28x | 13% below |
| PE % | 57 | 35 | 22 pts above |
LYTS is trading at 24x earnings, a 13% 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 the edge over LYTS on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
LYTS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $19.4 | 22% below |
| 20 week MA | $21.3 | 29% below |
| 50 week MA | $21.4 | 29% below |
| 100 week MA | $20.2 | 25% below |
| 200 week MA | $17.4 | 13% below |
LYTS is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 13% below its 200-week average.
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 LYTS on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
LYTS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $6.08 | $8.52 | +40% |
| 2021 | $8.52 | $6.67 | -22% |
| 2022 | $6.67 | $12.1 | +81% |
| 2023 | $12.1 | $14.1 | +17% |
| 2024 | $14.1 | $19.4 | +38% |
| 2025 | $19.4 | $18.8 | -3.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $18.8 | $15.2 | -19% |
LYTS has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's down 19% so far in 2026.