AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
SCSC
ScanSource, Inc.
SCSC has a slight edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside.
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.
SCSC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy |
SCSC's revenue and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its profitability is stable, but its cash flow 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.
SCSC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 8.7x | $27.69 | -37% |
| Forward | 8.9x | $44.26 | — |
| Fair | 13x | $42.03 | -5% |
| Current | 14x | $44.26 | — |
| Expensive | 17x | $52.71 | +19% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
SCSC's PE is in its fair range at 14x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 8.9x 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 SCSC on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
SCSC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for SCSC, with profitability holding steady.
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.
SCSC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.00 | +58% |
| Q3 2026 | $3.17 | -0.9% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.64 | +21% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.29 | +18% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.25 | +27% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.20 | +1.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.00 | -2% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.79 | -12% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.55 | -27% |
SCSC 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 SCSC 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.
SCSC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $962.3M | +30% |
| Q2 2026 | $953.1M | +17% |
| Q1 2026 | $766.8M | +8.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $766.5M | +2.5% |
| Q3 2025 | $739.7M | -4.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $812.9M | +8.9% |
| Q1 2025 | $704.8M | -6.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $747.5M | -16% |
SCSC's revenue has grown year over year for four quarters in a row: $962M last quarter, up 30% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.3% | -2.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 3.3% | 0 points |
| Q1 2026 | 3% | -0.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 2.3% | -0.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 3.5% | +1.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 3.3% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.2% | +0.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 2.5% | -0.6 points |
SCSC 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.
SCSC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$44.1M | -312% |
| Q2 2026 | -$4.8M | -193% |
| Q1 2026 | $69M | +6.7% |
| Q4 2025 | $28.9M | +$37M |
| Q3 2025 | $20.8M | -51% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.1M | -90% |
| Q1 2025 | $64.6M | -59% |
| Q4 2024 | -$8.2M | -113% |
SCSC 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.
SCSC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -4.6% | -1M shares |
| 1 year | -7.7% | -1.7M shares |
| 3 years | -18% | -4.5M shares |
| 5 years | -20% | -5M shares |
| Available history | -18% | -4.7M shares |
SCSC has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.8M |
| Q2 2026 | $26.5M |
| Q1 2026 | $32.7M |
| Q4 2025 | $17.4M |
| Q3 2025 | $21.3M |
| Q2 2025 | $25.3M |
| Q1 2025 | $28.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $24.2M |
SCSC spent $81M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 18% 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.
SCSC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.5x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | 0.3x | Very low |
SCSC'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).
SCSC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 37.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 24.2 | Neutral |
SCSC's weekly RSI is 37 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 24 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
SCSC PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | SCSC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 14x | 28x | 50% below |
| PE % | 53 | 35 | 18 pts above |
SCSC is trading at 14x earnings, a 50% 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.
SCSC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $55.9 | 21% below |
| 20 week MA | $55.5 | 20% below |
| 50 week MA | $46.8 | 5.4% below |
| 100 week MA | $43.8 | 1.1% above |
| 200 week MA | $41.0 | 7.9% above |
SCSC 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 SCSC on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
SCSC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $36.6 | $26.2 | -28% |
| 2021 | $26.2 | $34.6 | +32% |
| 2022 | $34.6 | $29.1 | -16% |
| 2023 | $29.1 | $39.6 | +36% |
| 2024 | $39.6 | $47.8 | +21% |
| 2025 | $47.8 | $39.7 | -17% |
| 2026 YTD | $39.7 | $44.3 | +11% |
SCSC has finished lower in three of the last six years. It's up 11% so far in 2026.