AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
XYZ
Block, Inc.
XYZ has the edge over AAOI overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger modeled upside.
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.
XYZ Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
XYZ's revenue, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its profitability is stable.
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.
XYZ PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 16x | $12.08 | -85% |
| Forward | 16x | $82.26 | — |
| Fair | 93x | $69.03 | -16% |
| Current | 111x | $82.26 | — |
| Expensive | 316x | $233 | +184% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
XYZ's PE is in its fair range at 111x. 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 |
Analysts expect AAOI to return to profit, with revenue growing. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
XYZ Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for XYZ, 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.
XYZ Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.04 | +581% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.74 | -85% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.56 | -88% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.28 | -69% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.10 | -54% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.97 | +176% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.68 | +260% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.12 | +422% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.56 | +22700% |
XYZ 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 XYZ 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.
XYZ Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $6.7B | +9.9% |
| Q2 2026 | $6.6B | +9.3% |
| Q1 2026 | $6.1B | +4.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $6.3B | +3.6% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.1B | +2.3% |
| Q2 2025 | $6.1B | -1.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $5.8B | -3.1% |
| Q4 2024 | $6B | +4.5% |
XYZ's revenue has grown year over year for five quarters in a row: $6.7B last quarter, up 9.9% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 6.4% | -0.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 6.8% | -1.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | -2.8% | -8.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 7.8% | +7.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 6.7% | +1.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 8% | +3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 5.7% | +1.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 0.2% | +2.5 points |
XYZ 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.
XYZ Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $972M | -31% |
| Q2 2026 | $966.6M | +182% |
| Q1 2026 | $935M | +822% |
| Q4 2025 | $579.8M | +$593M |
| Q3 2025 | $1.4B | +123% |
| Q2 2025 | $343M | -29% |
| Q1 2025 | $101.5M | -78% |
| Q4 2024 | -$13.2M | +$836.4M |
XYZ 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.
XYZ Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +1% | +5.9M shares |
| 1 year | -1.1% | -6.9M shares |
| 3 years | +0.6% | +3.5M shares |
| 5 years | +22% | +111M shares |
| Available history | +32% | +149M shares |
XYZ has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | $64.9M |
| Q1 2026 | $636M |
| Q4 2025 | $790.1M |
| Q3 2025 | $403M |
| Q2 2025 | $692.2M |
| Q1 2025 | $445.3M |
| Q4 2024 | $183.2M |
XYZ spent $1.5B buying back its own shares over the past year, down 13% 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.
XYZ Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -1.4x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | -2.7x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -0.7x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -0.8x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -1.5x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -5.3x | Net Cash |
XYZ 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).
XYZ Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 57.3 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 55.5 | Neutral |
XYZ's weekly RSI is 57 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 56 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
XYZ PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | XYZ | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 111x | 28x | 299% above |
| PE % | 52 | 35 | 17 pts above |
XYZ is trading at 111x earnings, a 299% 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.
XYZ Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $78.3 | 5.1% above |
| 20 week MA | $79.3 | 3.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $71.0 | 16% above |
| 100 week MA | $70.6 | 16% above |
| 200 week MA | $69.1 | 19% above |
XYZ 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 XYZ on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
XYZ Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $63.8 | $228.3 | +258% |
| 2021 | $228.3 | $167.7 | -27% |
| 2022 | $167.7 | $60.9 | -64% |
| 2023 | $60.9 | $77.4 | +27% |
| 2024 | $77.4 | $89.0 | +15% |
| 2025 | $89.0 | $66.3 | -26% |
| 2026 YTD | $66.3 | $82.3 | +24% |
XYZ's yearly returns have swung widely, from +258% in 2020 to −64% in 2022. It's up 24% so far in 2026.