AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
TACT
TransAct Technologies Incorporated
TACT 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.
TACT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
TACT's cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its profitability 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.
TACT PE Valuation
TACT has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
AAOI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
AAOI has the edge over TACT on the outlook, with more favorable earnings and profitability expectations.
TACT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses growing | |
| Growth | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect TACT's losses to grow, with revenue growing.
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.
TACT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.08 | +$0.72 |
TACT 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 TACT 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.
TACT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $14.4M | +9.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $13.9M | +1.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $14.4M | +10% |
| Q4 2025 | $11.5M | +12% |
TACT's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2025: $14M last quarter, up 9.6% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -0.4% | +1.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 5.3% | +5.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | -10% | +0.2 points |
| Q3 2025 | 0.1% | N/A |
| Q2 2025 | -1.9% | N/A |
| Q1 2025 | -0.1% | N/A |
| Q4 2024 | -10% | N/A |
TACT 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.
TACT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $2.1M | -41% |
| Q1 2026 | -$1M | -$855K |
| Q4 2025 | $589K | -75% |
TACT 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.
TACT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.5% | +56K shares |
| 1 year | +2% | +204K shares |
TACT has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
TACT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -82.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -565.8x | Net Cash |
TACT 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).
TACT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 51.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 47.5 | Neutral |
TACT's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 48 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
TACT PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | TACT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 28x | — |
TACT has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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.
TACT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $4.88 | 0% above |
| 20 week MA | $5.05 | 3.4% below |
| 50 week MA | $4.35 | 12% above |
| 100 week MA | $4.23 | 15% above |
| 200 week MA | $5.10 | 4.3% below |
TACT 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 TACT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
TACT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $10.7 | $7.37 | -31% |
| 2021 | $7.37 | $10.6 | +44% |
| 2022 | $10.6 | $6.18 | -42% |
| 2023 | $6.18 | $6.98 | +13% |
| 2024 | $6.98 | $4.14 | -41% |
| 2025 | $4.14 | $3.92 | -5.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $3.92 | $4.88 | +24% |
TACT has finished lower in four of the last six years. It's up 24% so far in 2026.