AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
NATL
NCR Atleos Corporation
NATL has the edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger valuation.
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.
NATL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable |
NATL's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue and balance sheet are 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.
NATL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 9.8x | $48.24 | — |
| Current | 14x | $48.24 | — |
| Cheap | 18x | $62.59 | +30% |
| Fair | 20x | $68.98 | +43% |
| Expensive | 22x | $76.66 | +59% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NATL's PE is in its cheap range at 14x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 9.8x next year's earnings.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over NATL on the outlook, with more favorable revenue expectations.
NATL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect NATL's earnings to grow and its profitability to improve, with its revenue 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.
NATL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $4.91 | +40% |
| Q3 2026 | $3.51 | +104% |
| Q2 2026 | $2.58 | +52% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.32 | +56% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.26 | +97% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.72 | +$3.46 |
| Q2 2025 | $1.70 | +$4.58 |
NATL 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 NATL 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.
NATL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.1B | -2% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.1B | -0.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $1B | +6.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.2B | +4% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.1B | +4% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.1B | +2.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $980M | -6.7% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.1B | +0.9% |
NATL's revenue fell from its 2022 peak and has held roughly level since: $1.1B last quarter, down 2% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 17% | +6.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 14% | +3.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 8.1% | -1.8 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | +0.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 9.8% | -1.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | +1 points |
| Q1 2025 | 9.8% | +2.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 13% | +10 points |
NATL 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.
NATL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $147M | +$152M |
| Q2 2026 | $4M | +$48M |
| Q1 2026 | -$36M | -138% |
| Q4 2025 | $194M | +213% |
| Q3 2025 | -$5M | -106% |
| Q2 2025 | -$44M | -$30M |
| Q1 2025 | $94M | -24% |
| Q4 2024 | $62M | +$92M |
NATL 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.
NATL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.4% | +300K shares |
| 1 year | +0.1% | +100K shares |
| 3 years | +7.8% | +5.5M shares |
NATL has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $16M |
| Q1 2023 | — |
| Q4 2022 | — |
| Q3 2022 | — |
| Q2 2022 | — |
| Q1 2022 | — |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
NATL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 3.0x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 3.0x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 3.3x | Elevated |
| Q2 2025 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q1 2025 | 3.6x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.7x | Elevated |
NATL's net debt is about 2.6 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 3.3 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).
NATL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 63.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 62.7 | Neutral |
NATL's weekly RSI is 63 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 63 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NATL PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | NATL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 14x | 28x | 51% below |
| PE % | 1 | 18 | 17 pts below |
NATL is trading at 14x earnings, a 51% 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 |
NATL has stronger trend alignment. AAOI is above 1 of 5 weekly averages versus NATL above 4 of 4.
NATL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $46.5 | 3.9% above |
| 20 week MA | $46.4 | 4% above |
| 50 week MA | $43.9 | 9.9% above |
| 100 week MA | $37.9 | 27% above |
NATL is in an uptrend: it's above all four of its weekly moving averages, and 27% above its 100-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 NATL on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NATL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $22.4 | $24.3 | +8.5% |
| 2024 | $24.3 | $34.3 | +41% |
| 2025 | $34.3 | $39.0 | +14% |
| 2026 YTD | $39.0 | $48.2 | +24% |
NATL has finished every year since 2023 higher, and it's up 24% so far in 2026.