AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger valuation, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
NTAP
NetApp, Inc.
NTAP has a slight edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger fundamentals.
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.
NTAP Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy |
NTAP'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.
NTAP PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 13x | $90.96 | -51% |
| Forward | 18x | $186 | — |
| Fair | 19x | $133 | -29% |
| Expensive | 26x | $181 | -2.9% |
| Current | 26x | $186 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NTAP's PE is in its expensive range at 26x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 18x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over NTAP on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
NTAP Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for NTAP, with profitability holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
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.
NTAP Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $10.17 | +44% |
| Q3 2026 | $7.08 | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.35 | +12% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.97 | +11% |
| Q4 2025 | $5.74 | +5.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $5.65 | +11% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.67 | +22% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.39 | +23% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.43 | +69% |
NTAP 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 NTAP 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.
NTAP Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.8B | +17% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.9B | +12% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.7B | +4.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.7B | +2.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.6B | +1.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.7B | +3.8% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.6B | +2.2% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.7B | +6.1% |
NTAP's revenue has grown year over year for 11 quarters in a row: $1.8B last quarter, up 17% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 27% | +6.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 27% | +7.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 25% | +3.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 23% | +2.6 points |
| Q3 2025 | 20% | +1.5 points |
| Q2 2025 | 20% | -1.9 points |
| Q1 2025 | 22% | -0.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 21% | +1.3 points |
NTAP 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.
NTAP Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $401M | -35% |
| Q2 2026 | $900M | +41% |
| Q1 2026 | $271M | -20% |
| Q4 2025 | $78M | +30% |
| Q3 2025 | $620M | +107% |
| Q2 2025 | $640M | +13% |
| Q1 2025 | $338M | -25% |
| Q4 2024 | $60M | -38% |
NTAP 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.
NTAP Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.5% | -1M shares |
| 1 year | -1.5% | -3M shares |
| 3 years | -7.4% | -16M shares |
| 5 years | -13% | -29M shares |
| Available history | -15% | -36M shares |
NTAP has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $200M |
| Q2 2026 | $200M |
| Q1 2026 | $200M |
| Q4 2025 | $250M |
| Q3 2025 | $300M |
| Q2 2025 | $250M |
| Q1 2025 | $200M |
| Q4 2024 | $300M |
NTAP spent $850M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 19% 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.
NTAP Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 0.3x | Very low |
NTAP's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
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).
NTAP Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 52.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 29.8 | Neutral |
NTAP's weekly RSI is 52 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 30 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NTAP PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | NTAP | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 26x | 28x | 5.7% below |
| PE % | 86 | 35 | 51 pts above |
NTAP is trading at 26x earnings, in line with 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.
NTAP Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $204.8 | 9.1% below |
| 20 week MA | $191.5 | 2.8% below |
| 50 week MA | $146.4 | 27% above |
| 100 week MA | $127.0 | 46% above |
| 200 week MA | $110.0 | 69% above |
NTAP 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.
NTAP Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $61.4 | $65.8 | +7.1% |
| 2021 | $65.8 | $90.6 | +38% |
| 2022 | $90.6 | $59.0 | -35% |
| 2023 | $59.0 | $88.2 | +49% |
| 2024 | $88.2 | $117.0 | +33% |
| 2025 | $117.0 | $110.5 | -5.5% |
| 2026 YTD | $110.5 | $186.1 | +68% |
NTAP has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.