AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has a slight edge over PLUS overall, supported by stronger modeled upside and stronger valuation.
PLUS
ePlus inc.
PLUS 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.
PLUS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Unavailable | |
| Strong |
PLUS's profitability and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable. There isn't enough data to rate its cash flow.
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.
PLUS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 13x | $64.79 | -33% |
| Fair | 16x | $80.46 | -17% |
| Forward | 16x | $97.13 | — |
| Expensive | 18x | $92.10 | -5.2% |
| Current | 19x | $97.13 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
PLUS's PE is in its expensive range at 19x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 16x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
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.
PLUS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for PLUS, with profitability improving.
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.
PLUS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.99 | +20% |
| Q3 2026 | $5.00 | +8.5% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.76 | +6.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $5.03 | +24% |
| Q4 2025 | $5.03 | +28% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.61 | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.46 | +9.3% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.05 | -6.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.92 | -17% |
PLUS 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 PLUS 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.
PLUS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $667.9M | +9.7% |
| Q2 2026 | $649.1M | +1.9% |
| Q1 2026 | $581.6M | +17% |
| Q4 2025 | $614.8M | +20% |
| Q3 2025 | $608.8M | +18% |
| Q2 2025 | $637.3M | +17% |
| Q1 2025 | $498.1M | -10% |
| Q4 2024 | $511M | +0.4% |
PLUS's revenue has grown year over year for six quarters in a row: $668M last quarter, up 9.7% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 8.5% | +0.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 6% | +0.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 6.5% | -0.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | 7.1% | +1.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 8% | -0.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 5.7% | -0.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | 7% | +1.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 5.6% | -1.9 points |
PLUS 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 |
PLUS has the stronger cash trend. Its trailing FCF is down 16% versus its history, compared with AAOI at down 676%.
PLUS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$59M | -$24.2M |
| Q2 2026 | $75.6M | +$174.6M |
| Q1 2026 | $103.8M | -36% |
| Q3 2025 | -$34.8M | -$13.1M |
| Q2 2025 | -$99M | -202% |
| Q1 2025 | $160.9M | +53% |
| Q4 2024 | $65.7M | -51% |
| Q3 2024 | -$21.6M | -169% |
PLUS usually generates cash, though not every quarter: the latest was −$59M, but it generated $86M over the past year.
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.
PLUS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.6% | -151K shares |
| 1 year | -1.9% | -495K shares |
| 3 years | -2.9% | -768K shares |
| 5 years | -3.5% | -953K shares |
| Available history | -3.2% | -845K shares |
PLUS has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $13.1M |
| Q2 2026 | $25.5M |
| Q1 2026 | $6.3M |
| Q4 2025 | $17M |
| Q3 2025 | $4M |
| Q2 2025 | $3.3M |
| Q1 2025 | $13.5M |
| Q4 2024 | $9.9M |
PLUS spent $62M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 101% 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.
PLUS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.9x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -2.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | -1.7x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -2.3x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -2.8x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -2.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -1.4x | Net Cash |
PLUS 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).
PLUS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 64.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 71.7 | Neutral |
PLUS's weekly RSI is 64 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 72 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
PLUS PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | PLUS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 19x | 28x | 30% below |
| PE % | 90 | 35 | 55 pts above |
PLUS is trading at 19x earnings, a 30% 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.
PLUS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $93.6 | 3.8% above |
| 20 week MA | $90.9 | 6.9% above |
| 50 week MA | $86.6 | 12% above |
| 100 week MA | $78.9 | 23% above |
| 200 week MA | $74.6 | 30% above |
PLUS 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 PLUS on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
PLUS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $42.2 | $43.2 | +2.4% |
| 2021 | $43.2 | $52.5 | +22% |
| 2022 | $52.5 | $43.6 | -17% |
| 2023 | $43.6 | $79.8 | +83% |
| 2024 | $79.8 | $73.5 | -7.9% |
| 2025 | $73.5 | $90.0 | +22% |
| 2026 YTD | $90.0 | $97.1 | +7.9% |
PLUS has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's up 7.9% so far in 2026.