AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
WAY
Waystar Holding Corp.
WAY 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.
WAY Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure |
WAY's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, but its balance sheet 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.
WAY PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 16x | $28.14 | — |
| Cheap | 34x | $23.39 | -17% |
| Current | 41x | $28.14 | — |
| Fair | 42x | $29.15 | +3.6% |
| Expensive | 81x | $55.94 | +99% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WAY's PE is in its fair range at 41x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 16x 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 WAY on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
WAY Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WAY, 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.
WAY Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.79 | +160% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.69 | +11% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.70 | +46% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.67 | +644% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.61 | +$0.78 |
| Q3 2025 | $0.62 | +$0.98 |
| Q2 2025 | $0.48 | +$0.96 |
| Q1 2025 | $0.09 | +$0.43 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.17 | +$0.14 |
WAY 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 WAY 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.
WAY Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $325.6M | +21% |
| Q2 2026 | $319.7M | +18% |
| Q1 2026 | $313.9M | +22% |
| Q4 2025 | $303.5M | +24% |
| Q3 2025 | $268.7M | +12% |
| Q2 2025 | $270.7M | +15% |
| Q1 2025 | $256.4M | +14% |
| Q4 2024 | $244.1M | +18% |
WAY's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since early 2022: $326M last quarter, up 21% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 19% | -3.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 24% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 26% | +0.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 19% | -2.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 22% | +11 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | +20 points |
| Q1 2025 | 25% | +9.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 22% | +3.5 points |
WAY 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.
WAY Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $93.9M | +23% |
| Q2 2026 | $43.3M | -52% |
| Q1 2026 | $69.6M | +18% |
| Q4 2025 | $57.2M | -2.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $76.2M | +8.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $58.8M | +1038% |
| Q4 2024 | $58.5M | +933% |
| Q3 2024 | $70.2M | +$86.9M |
WAY 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.
WAY Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.7% | +1.4M shares |
| 1 year | +8.1% | +14.7M shares |
| 3 years | +18% | +29.3M shares |
| 5 years | +18% | +29.3M shares |
WAY has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $20.7M |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | $225,000 |
| Q4 2023 | — |
| Q3 2023 | $1,000 |
AAOI Net Leverage
AAOI's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
WAY Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.2x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 3.6x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 2.5x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.4x | Elevated |
WAY's net debt is about 3.2 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 2.1 years 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).
WAY Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 59.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 78.5 | Neutral |
WAY's weekly RSI is 59 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 78 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
WAY PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | WAY | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 41x | 28x | 46% above |
| PE % | 41 | 19 | 22 pts above |
WAY is trading at 41x earnings, a 46% 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 |
WAY has stronger trend alignment. AAOI is above 1 of 5 weekly averages versus WAY above 3 of 4.
WAY Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $27.1 | 3.8% above |
| 20 week MA | $25.2 | 12% above |
| 50 week MA | $25.1 | 12% above |
| 100 week MA | $31.6 | 11% below |
WAY has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 11% below its 100-week average.
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 WAY on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
WAY Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $20.7 | $37.9 | +83% |
| 2025 | $37.9 | $33.0 | -13% |
| 2026 YTD | $33.0 | $28.1 | -15% |
WAY has finished lower in one of the last two years. It's down 15% so far in 2026.