AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
TLS
Telos Corporation
TLS 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.
TLS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
TLS's revenue, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, 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.
TLS PE Valuation
TLS 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 |
Analysts expect AAOI to return to profit, with revenue growing. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
TLS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for TLS, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
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.
TLS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.28 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.12 | +$0.29 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.21 | +$0.56 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.35 | +$0.40 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.50 | +$0.23 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.41 | +$0.29 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.77 | -$0.34 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.75 | -$0.31 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.73 | -$0.23 |
TLS has the edge over AAOI on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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 TLS 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.
TLS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $55.2M | +7.3% |
| Q2 2026 | $47.7M | +33% |
| Q1 2026 | $47.7M | +56% |
| Q4 2025 | $46.8M | +77% |
| Q3 2025 | $51.4M | +116% |
| Q2 2025 | $36M | +26% |
| Q1 2025 | $30.6M | +3.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $26.4M | -36% |
TLS's revenue is recovering but still below its 2021 peak: $55M last quarter, up 7.3% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.4% | +12 points |
| Q2 2026 | 0.7% | +28 points |
| Q1 2026 | 3% | +33 points |
| Q4 2025 | -40% | -1.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | -4.8% | +117 points |
| Q2 2025 | -27% | +2.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | -29% | -1 points |
| Q4 2024 | -38% | -18 points |
TLS 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.
TLS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $9.4M | +7.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $8.6M | +26% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.5M | +42% |
| Q4 2025 | $8M | +$20.3M |
| Q3 2025 | $8.7M | +$15.8M |
| Q2 2025 | $6.8M | +$15M |
| Q1 2025 | $6M | +$6.4M |
| Q4 2024 | -$12.4M | -383% |
TLS 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.
TLS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -1.4% | -1.1M shares |
| 1 year | +5.4% | +3.9M shares |
| 3 years | +10% | +6.9M shares |
| 5 years | +15% | +9.7M shares |
| Available history | +56% | +27.4M shares |
TLS has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $5.7M |
| Q2 2026 | $4.7M |
| Q1 2026 | $2.2M |
| Q4 2025 | $6M |
| Q3 2025 | $3.6M |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
TLS spent $19M 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.
TLS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -50.6x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2020 | -18.7x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2020 | 10.3x | High |
| Q2 2020 | 10.0x | High |
| Q1 2020 | 13.8x | High |
| Q4 2019 | 16.8x | High |
TLS 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).
TLS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 71.2 | Overbought |
| Stochastic | 72.5 | Neutral |
TLS's weekly RSI is 71 (overbought) and its Stochastic is 73 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
TLS PE vs Technology Sector
TLS 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.
TLS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $4.96 | 56% above |
| 20 week MA | $4.73 | 63% above |
| 50 week MA | $4.70 | 64% above |
| 100 week MA | $4.35 | 77% above |
| 200 week MA | $3.85 | 101% above |
TLS 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.
TLS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $19.1 | $30.2 | +58% |
| 2021 | $30.2 | $16.2 | -46% |
| 2022 | $16.2 | $4.87 | -70% |
| 2023 | $4.87 | $3.65 | -25% |
| 2024 | $3.65 | $3.40 | -6.8% |
| 2025 | $3.40 | $5.18 | +52% |
| 2026 YTD | $5.18 | $7.72 | +49% |
TLS has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.