AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
NOW
ServiceNow, Inc.
NOW 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.
NOW Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Under pressure |
NOW'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.
NOW PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 22x | $101 | — |
| Current | 72x | $101 | — |
| Cheap | 83x | $115 | +14% |
| Fair | 141x | $196 | +95% |
| Expensive | 518x | $720 | +616% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NOW's PE is in its cheap range at 72x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 22x next year's earnings.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over NOW on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
NOW Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Broad | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for NOW, 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.
NOW Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $4.55 | +227% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.39 | -16% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.60 | +0.6% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.68 | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.67 | +22% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.66 | +29% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.59 | +43% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.47 | -21% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.37 | -18% |
NOW 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 NOW 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.
NOW Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.1B | +21% |
| Q2 2026 | $4B | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.8B | +22% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.6B | +21% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.4B | +22% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.2B | +22% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.1B | +19% |
| Q4 2024 | $3B | +21% |
NOW's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $4.1B last quarter, up 21% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9.4% | -7.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 4.1% | -7.1 points |
| Q1 2026 | 13% | -1.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 12% | -0.2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 17% | +1.8 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | +2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 15% | +1.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 13% | +1.6 points |
NOW 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.
NOW Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $748M | +29% |
| Q2 2026 | $473M | -10% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.5B | +3.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $2B | +45% |
| Q3 2025 | $578M | +23% |
| Q2 2025 | $526M | +47% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.5B | +22% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.4B | +2.8% |
NOW 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.
NOW Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.8% | +8.7M shares |
| 1 year | -0.4% | -4.5M shares |
| 3 years | +1.1% | +11.6M shares |
| 5 years | +2.7% | +27.4M shares |
| Available history | +5.8% | +56.9M shares |
NOW has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $2.2B |
| Q4 2025 | $597M |
| Q3 2025 | $584M |
| Q2 2025 | $361M |
| Q1 2025 | $298M |
| Q4 2024 | $296M |
NOW spent $2.8B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 83% 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.
NOW Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.7x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.9x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
NOW's net debt is about 2.6 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), after holding more cash than debt 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).
NOW Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 5.4 | Oversold |
NOW's weekly RSI is 41 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 5 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NOW PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | NOW | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 72x | 28x | 160% above |
| PE % | 7 | 35 | 28 pts below |
NOW is trading at 72x earnings, a 160% 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 the edge over NOW on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
NOW Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $127.4 | 21% below |
| 20 week MA | $123.9 | 19% below |
| 50 week MA | $119.0 | 15% below |
| 100 week MA | $153.4 | 34% below |
| 200 week MA | $145.0 | 31% below |
NOW is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 31% 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 NOW on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NOW Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $57.4 | $110.8 | +93% |
| 2021 | $110.8 | $129.7 | +17% |
| 2022 | $129.7 | $76.4 | -41% |
| 2023 | $76.4 | $141.3 | +85% |
| 2024 | $141.3 | $216.3 | +53% |
| 2025 | $216.3 | $153.9 | -29% |
| 2026 YTD | $153.9 | $100.7 | -35% |
NOW is down 35% so far in 2026, after finishing higher in four of the previous six years.