AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has a slight edge over MEI overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
MEI
Methode Electronics, Inc.
MEI 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.
MEI Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Under pressure |
MEI's revenue is currently healthy, and its profitability is stable, but its cash flow and balance sheet are 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.
MEI PE Valuation
MEI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
MEI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect MEI's losses to shrink, with revenue growing.
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.
MEI Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$1.04 | +$0.50 |
| Q2 2026 | -$1.01 | +$0.76 |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.81 | +$0.79 |
| Q4 2025 | -$1.77 | +$0.75 |
| Q3 2025 | -$1.54 | +$2.48 |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.77 | +$1.71 |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.60 | -$0.97 |
| Q4 2024 | -$2.52 | -$1.76 |
MEI has the edge over AAOI on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 MEI 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 has the edge over MEI on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
MEI Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $265.4M | +10% |
| Q2 2026 | $298.1M | +16% |
| Q1 2026 | $233.7M | -2.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $246.9M | -16% |
| Q3 2025 | $240.5M | -7% |
| Q2 2025 | $257.1M | -7.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $239.9M | -7.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $292.6M | +1.6% |
MEI's revenue is recovering but still below its 2022 peak: $265M last quarter, up 10% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.5% | -1.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 3.7% | +13 points |
| Q1 2026 | -2.6% | -1.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 1.2% | -2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 0.5% | +3.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | -9.2% | +13 points |
| Q1 2025 | -0.9% | +0.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 3.2% | +21 points |
MEI's operating margin was −1.5% last quarter, down 1.9 points from the same quarter a year ago.
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.
MEI Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$10.9M | -161% |
| Q2 2026 | -$900K | -103% |
| Q1 2026 | $10.1M | -48% |
| Q4 2025 | -$11.6M | +$46.8M |
| Q3 2025 | $18M | +$20.7M |
| Q2 2025 | $26.3M | +66% |
| Q1 2025 | $19.6M | +61% |
| Q4 2024 | -$58.4M | -$47.1M |
MEI has the edge over AAOI on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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.
MEI Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.4% | +152K shares |
| 1 year | +0.9% | +301K shares |
| 3 years | -1.7% | -608K shares |
| 5 years | -7.2% | -2.8M shares |
| Available history | -5.5% | -2.1M shares |
MEI has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | $1.6M |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
MEI Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 6.0x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 5.6x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 4.6x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 6.2x | High |
| Q1 2024 | 14.9x | High |
| Q4 2023 | 5.0x | High |
MEI's net debt is about 3.1 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 4.6 years 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).
MEI Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 48.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 24.6 | Neutral |
MEI's weekly RSI is 48 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 25 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
MEI PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | MEI | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 28x | — |
MEI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
MEI Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $13.6 | 8.9% below |
| 20 week MA | $14.7 | 16% below |
| 50 week MA | $11.1 | 12% above |
| 100 week MA | $9.61 | 29% above |
| 200 week MA | $16.7 | 26% below |
MEI 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.
MEI Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $39.2 | $37.7 | -3.7% |
| 2021 | $37.7 | $47.4 | +26% |
| 2022 | $47.4 | $44.3 | -6.7% |
| 2023 | $44.3 | $22.7 | -49% |
| 2024 | $22.7 | $12.2 | -46% |
| 2025 | $12.2 | $6.76 | -45% |
| 2026 YTD | $6.76 | $12.4 | +84% |
MEI has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.