AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI has a slight edge over UCTT overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
UCTT
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.
UCTT 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.
UCTT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Weak | |
| Stable |
UCTT's revenue and profitability are currently healthy, and its balance sheet is stable, but its cash flow is weak.
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.
UCTT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 8.4x | $48.10 | — |
| Cheap | 18x | $9.98 | -79% |
| Fair | 26x | $15.06 | -69% |
| Expensive | 47x | $26.89 | -44% |
| Current | 84x | $48.10 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
UCTT's PE is in its expensive range at 84x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 8.4x next year's earnings, in its cheap 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.
UCTT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for UCTT, 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.
UCTT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.70 | +899% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.57 | +$4.14 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.52 | +$2.86 |
| Q1 2026 | -$4.29 | -792% |
| Q4 2025 | -$4.00 | -869% |
| Q3 2025 | -$3.57 | -5200% |
| Q2 2025 | -$3.38 | -$3.18 |
| Q1 2025 | $0.62 | +$1.45 |
| Q4 2024 | $0.52 | +$1.22 |
UCTT 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 UCTT 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.
UCTT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $759M | +49% |
| Q2 2026 | $644.9M | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $533.7M | +2.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $506.7M | -10% |
| Q3 2025 | $510M | -5.6% |
| Q2 2025 | $518.8M | +0.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $518.6M | +8.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $563.3M | +27% |
UCTT's revenue is growing: $759M last quarter, up 49% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 7.1% | +5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 4.6% | +32 points |
| Q1 2026 | 2.1% | -0.4 points |
| Q4 2025 | 2.1% | -2.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 2.1% | -2.6 points |
| Q2 2025 | -27% | -32 points |
| Q1 2025 | 2.5% | -1.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 4.6% | +3.6 points |
UCTT 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.
UCTT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$61.8M | -$50.9M |
| Q2 2026 | -$57.3M | -562% |
| Q1 2026 | -$42.9M | -372% |
| Q4 2025 | -$2M | -$1.8M |
| Q3 2025 | -$10.9M | -$10.6M |
| Q2 2025 | $12.4M | +22% |
| Q1 2025 | $15.8M | +$24M |
| Q4 2024 | -$200K | -101% |
UCTT has the edge over AAOI on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
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.
UCTT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.2% | +100K shares |
| 1 year | +1.8% | +800K shares |
| 3 years | +4.3% | +1.9M shares |
UCTT has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $40M |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
UCTT spent $40M 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.
UCTT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q1 2025 | -2.4x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4x | Healthy |
| Q3 2024 | -2.8x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2024 | -3.5x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2023 | -2.6x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2022 | 1.0x | Healthy |
UCTT's net debt is about 2.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), after holding more cash than debt 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).
UCTT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 38.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 12.1 | Oversold |
UCTT's weekly RSI is 38 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 12 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
UCTT PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | UCTT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 84x | 28x | 203% above |
| PE % | 90 | 35 | 55 pts above |
UCTT is trading at 84x earnings, a 203% premium 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.
UCTT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $56.8 | 15% below |
| 20 week MA | $73.5 | 35% below |
| 50 week MA | $67.3 | 28% below |
| 100 week MA | $46.8 | 2.9% above |
| 200 week MA | $41.6 | 16% above |
UCTT 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.
UCTT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $23.4 | $31.7 | +35% |
| 2021 | $31.7 | $56.2 | +78% |
| 2022 | $56.2 | $33.3 | -41% |
| 2023 | $33.3 | $34.1 | +2.5% |
| 2024 | $34.1 | $36.5 | +7% |
| 2025 | $36.5 | $26.0 | -29% |
| 2026 YTD | $26.0 | $48.1 | +85% |
UCTT has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.