AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
NVEC
NVE Corporation
NVEC 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.
NVEC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
NVEC's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
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.
NVEC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 18x | $65.22 | -21% |
| Fair | 22x | $79.57 | -3.7% |
| Current | 22x | $82.60 | — |
| Expensive | 26x | $95.36 | +15% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NVEC's PE is in its fair range at 22x.
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.
NVEC Forward outlook
There aren't enough analyst estimates for NVEC 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.
NVEC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.69 | +29% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.72 | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.14 | +1% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.92 | -5.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.85 | -14% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.00 | -14% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.11 | -12% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.09 | -31% |
NVEC 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 NVEC 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.
NVEC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.8M | -8.1% |
| Q2 2026 | $11M | +81% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.7M | +5.3% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.2M | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.3M | -6.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.1M | -10% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.3M | +2.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $5.1M | -25% |
NVEC's revenue is growing: $6M last quarter, down 8.1% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 55% | -2.7 points |
| Q2 2026 | 66% | +3.9 points |
| Q1 2026 | 62% | +3.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 60% | +1.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 58% | -7.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 62% | -2.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 58% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 58% | -7.7 points |
NVEC 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.
NVEC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $10M | +266% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.1M | -74% |
| Q1 2026 | $12.4M | +419% |
| Q4 2025 | -$4.8M | -226% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.7M | +41% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.1M | -16% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.4M | -24% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.8M | -20% |
NVEC 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.
NVEC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +5.2K shares |
| 1 year | +0.2% | +11.7K shares |
| 3 years | +0.2% | +10.1K shares |
| 5 years | +0.3% | +14.3K shares |
| Available history | +0.1% | +3.5K shares |
NVEC has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $168 |
| Q1 2022 | $163,521 |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
NVEC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2024 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2024 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2024 | -0.6x | Net Cash |
NVEC 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).
NVEC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 18.5 | Oversold |
NVEC's weekly RSI is 44 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 19 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NVEC PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | NVEC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 22x | 28x | 20% below |
| PE % | 57 | 35 | 22 pts above |
NVEC is trading at 22x earnings, a 20% 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.
NVEC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $92.8 | 11% below |
| 20 week MA | $100.5 | 18% below |
| 50 week MA | $86.8 | 4.8% below |
| 100 week MA | $77.8 | 6.2% above |
| 200 week MA | $78.7 | 4.9% above |
NVEC 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 has the edge over NVEC on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NVEC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $71.4 | $55.6 | -22% |
| 2021 | $55.6 | $67.7 | +22% |
| 2022 | $67.7 | $65.6 | -3.2% |
| 2023 | $65.6 | $78.4 | +20% |
| 2024 | $78.4 | $82.4 | +5.1% |
| 2025 | $82.4 | $61.1 | -26% |
| 2026 YTD | $61.1 | $82.6 | +35% |
NVEC is up 35% so far in 2026, after finishing lower in three of the previous six years.