AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has the edge over PANW overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger valuation.
PANW
Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
PANW trails on the overall score without a compensating advantage in the available component scores.
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.
PANW Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
PANW's revenue, cash flow and balance sheet are currently strong, and its profitability is stable.
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.
PANW PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 48x | $19.37 | -94% |
| Forward | 74x | $323 | — |
| Fair | 117x | $46.90 | -85% |
| Expensive | 344x | $138 | -57% |
| Current | 807x | $323 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
PANW's PE is in its expensive range at 807x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 74x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over PANW on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
PANW Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Moderate | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for PANW, but weaker profitability.
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.
PANW Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $4.34 | +985% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.40 | -75% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.21 | -32% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.80 | +0.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.57 | -59% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.60 | -56% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.77 | -49% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.79 | -44% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.85 | +333% |
PANW 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 PANW 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.
PANW Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.4B | +34% |
| Q2 2026 | $3B | +31% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.6B | +15% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.5B | +16% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.5B | +16% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.3B | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.3B | +14% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.1B | +14% |
PANW's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $3.4B last quarter, up 34% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 5% | -15 points |
| Q2 2026 | -6.1% | -16 points |
| Q1 2026 | 15% | +4.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 12% | -0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 20% | +8.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 9.6% | +0.7 points |
| Q1 2025 | 11% | +7.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 13% | +1.9 points |
PANW 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.
PANW Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.3B | +34% |
| Q2 2026 | $788M | +41% |
| Q1 2026 | $384M | -25% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.7B | +15% |
| Q3 2025 | $934.5M | +101% |
| Q2 2025 | $560.4M | +14% |
| Q1 2025 | $509.4M | -22% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.5B | -1.6% |
PANW 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.
PANW Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -4.6% | -37M shares |
| 1 year | +7.7% | +54.7M shares |
| 3 years | +12% | +79.4M shares |
| 5 years | +32% | +186M shares |
| Available history | +32% | +184M shares |
PANW has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | $500M |
| Q1 2024 | — |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
PANW Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.6x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -1.5x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -1.4x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -1.8x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -1.8x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -2.2x | Net Cash |
PANW 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).
PANW Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 49.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 18.8 | Oversold |
PANW's weekly RSI is 50 (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.
PANW PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | PANW | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 807x | 28x | 2,795% above |
| PE % | 89 | 35 | 54 pts above |
PANW is trading at 807x earnings, a 2795% 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 fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 43% above its 200-week average.
PANW Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $365.2 | 12% below |
| 20 week MA | $355.8 | 9.3% below |
| 50 week MA | $260.9 | 24% above |
| 100 week MA | $225.6 | 43% above |
| 200 week MA | $182.3 | 77% above |
PANW 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.
PANW Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $38.9 | $61.2 | +57% |
| 2021 | $61.2 | $93.6 | +53% |
| 2022 | $93.6 | $70.6 | -25% |
| 2023 | $70.6 | $147.4 | +109% |
| 2024 | $147.4 | $186.2 | +26% |
| 2025 | $186.2 | $188.5 | +1.2% |
| 2026 YTD | $188.5 | $322.7 | +71% |
PANW has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.