AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
PTC
PTC Inc.
PTC has the 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.
PTC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Under pressure | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy |
PTC's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, but its revenue is under pressure.
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.
PTC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 19x | $196 | — |
| Forward | 22x | $196 | — |
| Cheap | 26x | $269 | +37% |
| Fair | 52x | $532 | +171% |
| Expensive | 91x | $941 | +379% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
PTC's PE is in its cheap range at 19x, but its recent earnings include one-off gains. On analysts' estimates for next year's earnings, today's price would be 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.
PTC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Deteriorating | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for PTC, 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.
PTC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $8.98 | -13% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.28 | +142% |
| Q1 2026 | $10.42 | +185% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.79 | +109% |
PTC has the edge over AAOI in the latest year-over-year earnings comparison.
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 PTC 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.
PTC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $673.3M | -25% |
| Q2 2026 | $600M | -6.8% |
| Q1 2026 | $774.3M | +22% |
| Q4 2025 | $685.8M | +21% |
PTC's revenue fell from its 2025 peak and has held roughly level since: $673M last quarter, down 25% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 28% | -4.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 38% | +3.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 32% | +12 points |
| Q3 2025 | 49% | N/A |
| Q2 2025 | 33% | N/A |
| Q1 2025 | 35% | N/A |
| Q4 2024 | 20% | N/A |
PTC 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.
PTC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $249.3M | +3% |
| Q1 2026 | $318.2M | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $267.4M | +13% |
PTC and AAOI do not have enough comparable growth data to identify a winner.
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.
PTC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -3% | -3.6M shares |
| 1 year | -4.6% | -5.5M shares |
PTC has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $500M |
| Q1 2026 | $626.1M |
| Q4 2025 | $200M |
| Q3 2025 | $75M |
| Q2 2025 | $75M |
| Q1 2025 | $75M |
| Q4 2024 | $75M |
PTC spent $1.4B buying back its own shares over the past year.
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
PTC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.5x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.2x | Healthy |
PTC's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 1.2 years 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).
PTC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 69.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 99.0 | Overbought |
PTC's weekly RSI is 70 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 99 (overbought).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
PTC PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | PTC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 19x | 28x | 31% below |
| PE % | 8 | 35 | 27 pts below |
PTC is trading at 19x earnings, a 31% discount to the Technology sector's median of 28x, though its recent earnings include one-off gains.
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.
PTC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $181.3 | 8.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $154.8 | 27% above |
| 50 week MA | $152.1 | 29% above |
| 100 week MA | $166.7 | 18% above |
| 200 week MA | $163.6 | 20% above |
PTC 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 PTC on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
PTC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $75.8 | $119.9 | +58% |
| 2021 | $119.9 | $120.5 | +0.6% |
| 2022 | $120.5 | $121.3 | +0.6% |
| 2023 | $121.3 | $175.0 | +44% |
| 2024 | $175.0 | $184.5 | +5.5% |
| 2025 | $184.5 | $176.6 | -4.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $176.6 | $196.3 | +11% |
PTC has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's up 11% so far in 2026.