AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
WEX
WEX Inc.
WEX has the edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger valuation.
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.
WEX Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Weak | |
| Weak |
WEX's revenue and profitability are currently healthy, but its cash flow and balance sheet are 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.
WEX PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 7.9x | $179 | — |
| Current | 15x | $179 | — |
| Cheap | 19x | $215 | +20% |
| Fair | 28x | $329 | +83% |
| Expensive | 53x | $610 | +240% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
WEX's PE is in its cheap range at 15x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 7.9x 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.
WEX Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for WEX, 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.
WEX Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $22.68 | +96% |
| Q3 2026 | $11.59 | +51% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.01 | +27% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.88 | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $8.47 | +13% |
| Q3 2025 | $7.69 | -2.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $7.91 | +37% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.76 | +26% |
| Q4 2024 | $7.50 | +22% |
WEX 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 WEX 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.
WEX Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $780.1M | +13% |
| Q2 2026 | $753.5M | +14% |
| Q1 2026 | $673.8M | +5.8% |
| Q4 2025 | $672.9M | +5.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $691.8M | +4% |
| Q2 2025 | $659.6M | -2.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $636.6M | -2.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $636.5M | -4% |
WEX's revenue has grown year over year for five quarters in a row: $780M last quarter, up 13% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 31% | +4.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 27% | +3.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 23% | -1.2 points |
| Q4 2025 | 25% | 0 points |
| Q3 2025 | 27% | -3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -1.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 25% | -0.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 25% | +0.8 points |
WEX 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.
WEX Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$58.2M | -117% |
| Q2 2026 | -$121.1M | -153% |
| Q1 2026 | -$368.3M | +$145.9M |
| Q4 2025 | $236.1M | -61% |
| Q3 2025 | $341.6M | +$373.3M |
| Q2 2025 | $230M | +$276.6M |
| Q1 2025 | -$514.2M | -$326.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $599.7M | -17% |
WEX 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.
WEX Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.9% | -300K shares |
| 1 year | -0.6% | -200K shares |
| 3 years | -20% | -8.8M shares |
| 5 years | -24% | -10.7M shares |
| Available history | -21% | -9.2M shares |
WEX has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $203.6M |
| Q2 2026 | $63.8M |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | $100,000 |
| Q2 2025 | $9.7M |
| Q1 2025 | $790M |
| Q4 2024 | $108.4M |
WEX spent $267M buying back its own shares over the past year, down 71% 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.
WEX Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.7x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 4.4x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 5.0x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 4.3x | High |
| Q3 2025 | 4.6x | High |
| Q2 2025 | 5.1x | High |
| Q1 2025 | 5.3x | High |
| Q4 2024 | 4.0x | High |
WEX's net debt is about 4.7 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), about the same as 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).
WEX Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 52.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 41.5 | Neutral |
WEX's weekly RSI is 52 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 41 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
WEX PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | WEX | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 15x | 28x | 44% below |
| PE % | 1 | 35 | 34 pts below |
WEX is trading at 15x earnings, a 44% discount 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.
WEX Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $180.7 | 0.7% below |
| 20 week MA | $181.5 | 1.1% below |
| 50 week MA | $163.9 | 9.5% above |
| 100 week MA | $158.9 | 13% above |
| 200 week MA | $175.3 | 2.4% above |
WEX 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 has the edge over WEX on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
WEX Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $209.4 | $203.5 | -2.8% |
| 2021 | $203.5 | $137.6 | -32% |
| 2022 | $137.6 | $161.9 | +18% |
| 2023 | $161.9 | $194.6 | +20% |
| 2024 | $194.6 | $173.1 | -11% |
| 2025 | $173.1 | $153.1 | -12% |
| 2026 YTD | $153.1 | $179.5 | +17% |
WEX has finished lower in four of the last six years. It's up 17% so far in 2026.