AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has the edge over NSYS overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
NSYS
Nortech Systems Incorporated
NSYS 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.
NSYS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Weak |
NSYS's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is weak.
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.
NSYS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 4.5x | $2.84 | -74% |
| Fair | 7.1x | $4.48 | -59% |
| Expensive | 17x | $10.91 | -0.1% |
| Current | 17x | $10.92 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NSYS's PE is in its expensive range at 17x.
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.
NSYS Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for NSYS 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.
NSYS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $0.63 | +$1.55 |
| Q2 2026 | $0.37 | +$1.51 |
| Q1 2026 | $0.38 | +$1.59 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.09 | +$0.38 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.92 | -159% |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.14 | -151% |
| Q1 2025 | -$1.21 | -150% |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.47 | -120% |
NSYS 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 NSYS 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.
NSYS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $33M | +8.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $33.5M | +9.3% |
| Q1 2026 | $30.3M | +13% |
| Q4 2025 | $30.3M | +5.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $30.5M | -2.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $30.7M | -9.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $26.9M | -21% |
| Q4 2024 | $28.6M | -21% |
NSYS's revenue has grown year over year for four quarters in a row: $33M last quarter, up 8.4% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.3% | +1.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 1.9% | -0.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 0.2% | +6.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 3% | +7.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 3.1% | +4.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | 2.4% | +1.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | -6% | -9.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | -4.3% | -12 points |
NSYS 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.
NSYS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.1M | +$2.3M |
| Q2 2026 | -$983K | -1795% |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.8M | +$1.4M |
| Q4 2025 | $5.5M | +986% |
| Q3 2025 | -$242K | +$1.3M |
| Q2 2025 | $58K | +$4.6M |
| Q1 2025 | -$3.2M | -253% |
| Q4 2024 | $503K | +$1.1M |
NSYS 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.
NSYS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +1.2% | +37.1K shares |
| 1 year | +9% | +251K shares |
| 3 years | +5.1% | +147K shares |
| 5 years | +5.4% | +156K shares |
| Available history | +14% | +371K shares |
NSYS has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2019 | — |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
NSYS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2024 | 5.0x | High |
| Q3 2024 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q2 2024 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q1 2024 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2023 | 0.6x | Very low |
NSYS's net debt is about 5.0 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).
NSYS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 44.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 20.2 | Neutral |
NSYS's weekly RSI is 44 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 20 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NSYS PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | NSYS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 17x | 28x | 38% below |
| PE % | 83 | 35 | 48 pts above |
NSYS is trading at 17x earnings, a 38% 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 fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 43% above its 200-week average.
NSYS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $10.9 | 0% above |
| 20 week MA | $12.2 | 10% below |
| 50 week MA | $11.6 | 5.5% below |
| 100 week MA | $10.4 | 5.1% above |
| 200 week MA | $10.9 | 0.5% above |
NSYS 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.
NSYS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $5.35 | $6.00 | +12% |
| 2021 | $6.00 | $10.2 | +69% |
| 2022 | $10.2 | $12.1 | +19% |
| 2023 | $12.1 | $9.42 | -22% |
| 2024 | $9.42 | $10.5 | +11% |
| 2025 | $10.5 | $7.39 | -30% |
| 2026 YTD | $7.39 | $10.9 | +48% |
NSYS has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.