AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI's outlook is improving, though it still trails on the overall score.
WDC
Western Digital Corporation
WDC 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.
WDC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
WDC's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
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.
WDC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 9.9x | $255 | -18% |
| Forward | 11x | $311 | — |
| Current | 12x | $311 | — |
| Fair | 19x | $487 | +56% |
| Expensive | 63x | $1,618 | +420% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WDC's PE is in its cheap range at 12x, but its recent earnings include one-off gains. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 11x 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.
WDC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for WDC, 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.
WDC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $28.81 | +12% |
| Q3 2026 | $25.84 | +276% |
| Q2 2026 | $24.28 | +371% |
| Q1 2026 | $16.75 | +268% |
| Q4 2025 | $9.97 | +187% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.87 | +655% |
| Q2 2025 | $5.15 | +$7.76 |
| Q1 2025 | $4.55 | +$9.61 |
| Q4 2024 | $3.47 | +$10.69 |
WDC 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 WDC 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.
WDC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.4B | +55% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.7B | +44% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.3B | +45% |
| Q4 2025 | $3B | -30% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.8B | -31% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | -31% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.3B | -34% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.3B | +41% |
WDC's revenue is growing: $4.4B last quarter, up 55% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 47% | +19 points |
| Q2 2026 | 42% | +16 points |
| Q1 2026 | 36% | +2.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | 30% | +10 points |
| Q3 2025 | 28% | +10 points |
| Q2 2025 | 26% | +20 points |
| Q1 2025 | 33% | +25 points |
| Q4 2024 | 20% | +27 points |
WDC 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.
WDC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.4B | +130% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.3B | +90% |
| Q1 2026 | $978M | +158% |
| Q4 2025 | $653M | +128% |
| Q3 2025 | $599M | +$661M |
| Q2 2025 | $675M | +170% |
| Q1 2025 | $379M | +$418M |
| Q4 2024 | $287M | +$529M |
WDC 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.
WDC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.3% | +1M shares |
| 1 year | +2.1% | +8M shares |
| 3 years | +19% | +61M shares |
| 5 years | +22% | +68M shares |
| Available history | +29% | +86M shares |
WDC has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1B |
| Q2 2026 | $672M |
| Q1 2026 | $752M |
| Q4 2025 | $615M |
| Q3 2025 | $553M |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
| Q4 2019 | — |
WDC spent $3B 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.
WDC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | -0.1x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 1.3x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.9x | Healthy |
WDC 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).
WDC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 41.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 11.2 | Oversold |
WDC's weekly RSI is 41 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 11 (oversold).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
WDC PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | WDC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 28x | 57% below |
| PE % | 28 | 35 | 7 pts below |
WDC is trading at 12x earnings, a 57% discount to the Technology sector's median of 28x, though its recent earnings include one-off gains.
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.
WDC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $360.8 | 14% below |
| 20 week MA | $438.4 | 29% below |
| 50 week MA | $380.4 | 18% below |
| 100 week MA | $226.8 | 37% above |
| 200 week MA | $133.7 | 133% above |
WDC 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.
WDC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $47.0 | $37.7 | -20% |
| 2021 | $37.7 | $46.2 | +23% |
| 2022 | $46.2 | $23.1 | -50% |
| 2023 | $23.1 | $39.6 | +71% |
| 2024 | $39.6 | $45.9 | +16% |
| 2025 | $45.9 | $181.5 | +296% |
| 2026 YTD | $181.5 | $311.2 | +71% |
WDC has the edge over AAOI on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.