AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
USIO
Usio, Inc.
USIO 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.
USIO Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure | |
| Under pressure | |
| Healthy |
USIO's revenue and balance sheet are currently healthy, but its profitability and cash flow are 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.
USIO PE Valuation
USIO 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 34x next year's earnings.
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.
USIO Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Returning to profit | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect USIO to return to profit, 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 has the edge over USIO on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
USIO Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $0.06 | — |
| Q3 2026 | -$0.03 | -$0.02 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.06 | -155% |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.08 | -167% |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.09 | -175% |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.01 | -110% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.11 | +$0.15 |
| Q1 2025 | $0.12 | +$0.15 |
| Q4 2024 | $0.12 | +$0.14 |
USIO is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.03 per share over the past year, against $0.39 at its worst in late 2019.
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 USIO 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.
USIO Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $23.8M | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $23.7M | +19% |
| Q1 2026 | $25.5M | +16% |
| Q4 2025 | $22.2M | +8.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $21.2M | -0.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $20M | -0.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $22M | +8.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $20.6M | +6.2% |
USIO's revenue has grown year over year for four quarters in a row: $24M last quarter, up 12% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.2% | +3.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 1.6% | +3.6 points |
| Q1 2026 | 0.9% | +2 points |
| Q4 2025 | -5.7% | -2.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | -2.2% | -0.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | -2% | -0.9 points |
| Q1 2025 | -1.1% | +3.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | -2.9% | +1.1 points |
USIO 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.
USIO Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.6M | +1740% |
| Q2 2026 | -$828.2K | -$803.6K |
| Q1 2026 | $548.7K | -48% |
| Q4 2025 | -$42.8K | -100% |
| Q3 2025 | $85.2K | +$4.9M |
| Q2 2025 | -$24.6K | +$526.6K |
| Q1 2025 | $1.1M | +$4M |
| Q4 2024 | $10.2M | +$37.1M |
USIO 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.
USIO Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +2.4% | +654K shares |
| 1 year | +5.9% | +1.6M shares |
| 3 years | +7.8% | +2.1M shares |
| 5 years | +84% | +13M shares |
USIO has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $127,830 |
| Q2 2026 | $137,473 |
| Q1 2026 | $233,459 |
| Q4 2025 | $300,702 |
| Q3 2025 | $57,589 |
| Q2 2025 | $356,658 |
| Q1 2025 | $351,640 |
| Q4 2024 | $1M |
USIO spent $799,464 buying back its own shares over the past year, down 55% 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.
USIO Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -5.7x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -13.6x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -28.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -14.2x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -10.6x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -50.9x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2023 | -39.8x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2023 | -8.3x | Net Cash |
USIO 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).
USIO Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 44.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 49.3 | Neutral |
USIO's weekly RSI is 44 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 49 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
USIO PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | USIO | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 28x | — |
USIO 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.
USIO Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $2.74 | 25% below |
| 20 week MA | $2.56 | 20% below |
| 50 week MA | $1.86 | 10% above |
| 100 week MA | $1.72 | 19% above |
| 200 week MA | $1.70 | 21% above |
USIO 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.
USIO Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $1.74 | $2.90 | +67% |
| 2021 | $2.90 | $5.08 | +75% |
| 2022 | $5.08 | $1.55 | -69% |
| 2023 | $1.55 | $1.72 | +11% |
| 2024 | $1.72 | $1.45 | -16% |
| 2025 | $1.45 | $1.33 | -8.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $1.33 | $2.05 | +54% |
USIO has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.