AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
NICE
NICE Ltd.
NICE has the edge over AAOI overall, supported by stronger valuation and 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.
NICE Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
NICE's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
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.
NICE PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 14x | $94.12 | — |
| Cheap | 17x | $116 | +23% |
| Fair | 49x | $341 | +263% |
| Expensive | 76x | $522 | +454% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NICE's PE is in its cheap range at 14x.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over NICE on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
NICE Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for NICE, 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.
NICE Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $6.90 | -18% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.43 | +18% |
| Q4 2025 | $9.67 | +43% |
| Q3 2025 | $8.80 | +36% |
| Q2 2025 | $8.37 | +40% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.17 | +29% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.76 | +33% |
| Q3 2024 | $6.46 | +31% |
NICE 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 NICE 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.
NICE Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $795.7M | +9.5% |
| Q1 2026 | $766.5M | +9.5% |
| Q4 2025 | $786.5M | +9% |
| Q3 2025 | $732M | +6.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $726.7M | +9.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $700.2M | +6.2% |
| Q4 2024 | $721.6M | +16% |
| Q3 2024 | $690M | +15% |
NICE's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $796M last quarter, up 9.5% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 14% | -8.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 16% | -4.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 22% | +1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 22% | +1.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 22% | +2.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 21% | +2.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 21% | +1.7 points |
| Q3 2024 | 20% | +1.6 points |
NICE 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.
NICE Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $117.3M | +204% |
| Q1 2026 | $169.4M | -36% |
| Q4 2025 | $156M | -31% |
| Q3 2025 | $163.6M | +24% |
| Q2 2025 | $38.6M | -74% |
| Q1 2025 | $264.6M | +16% |
| Q4 2024 | $225.1M | +40% |
| Q3 2024 | $131.7M | +28% |
NICE 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.
NICE Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -2% | -1.2M shares |
| 1 year | -6% | -3.8M shares |
| 3 years | -11% | -7M shares |
| 5 years | -11% | -7.1M shares |
| Available history | -8.7% | -5.7M shares |
NICE has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $60.8M |
| Q1 2026 | $252.6M |
| Q4 2025 | $165.2M |
| Q3 2025 | $40.6M |
| Q2 2025 | $30.8M |
| Q1 2025 | $252.3M |
| Q4 2024 | $95.2M |
| Q3 2024 | $86.4M |
NICE spent $519M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 12% 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.
NICE Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | 0.0x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q3 2024 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
NICE has more cash than debt.
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).
NICE Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 24.3 | Neutral |
NICE's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 24 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NICE PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | NICE | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 14x | 28x | 51% below |
| PE % | 13 | 35 | 22 pts below |
NICE 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 |
AAOI has the edge over NICE on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
NICE Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $110.2 | 15% below |
| 20 week MA | $104.5 | 9.9% below |
| 50 week MA | $105.3 | 11% below |
| 100 week MA | $128.5 | 27% below |
| 200 week MA | $162.8 | 42% below |
NICE is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 42% 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 NICE on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NICE Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $156.3 | $279.8 | +79% |
| 2021 | $279.8 | $306.4 | +9.5% |
| 2022 | $306.4 | $194.7 | -36% |
| 2023 | $194.7 | $199.5 | +2.5% |
| 2024 | $199.5 | $173.5 | -13% |
| 2025 | $173.5 | $112.7 | -35% |
| 2026 YTD | $112.7 | $94.1 | -16% |
NICE has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's down 16% so far in 2026.