AAOI
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.
AAOI's outlook is improving, though it still trails on the overall score.
ZBRA
Zebra Technologies Corporation
ZBRA 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.
ZBRA Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Stable |
ZBRA's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its balance sheet 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.
ZBRA PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 15x | $318 | — |
| Cheap | 25x | $311 | -2% |
| Current | 26x | $318 | — |
| Fair | 31x | $387 | +22% |
| Expensive | 48x | $596 | +88% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ZBRA's PE is in its cheap range at 26x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 15x 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.
ZBRA Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for ZBRA, 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.
ZBRA Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $21.67 | +75% |
| Q3 2026 | $12.40 | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.94 | +3.3% |
| Q1 2026 | $8.28 | -22% |
| Q4 2025 | $8.18 | -20% |
| Q3 2025 | $9.92 | +35% |
| Q2 2025 | $10.59 | +139% |
| Q1 2025 | $10.57 | +109% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.18 | +78% |
ZBRA 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 ZBRA 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.
ZBRA Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1.6B | +22% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.6B | +20% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.5B | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.5B | +11% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.3B | +5.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.3B | +6.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.3B | +11% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.3B | +32% |
ZBRA's revenue has grown year over year for 10 quarters in a row: $1.6B last quarter, up 22% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 15% | +0.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | +6.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 14% | -0.5 points |
| Q4 2025 | 9.4% | -7.5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 14% | -1.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 14% | +0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 15% | +1.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 17% | +9.5 points |
ZBRA 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.
ZBRA Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $300M | +39% |
| Q2 2026 | $198M | +52% |
| Q1 2026 | $163M | +3.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $327M | +14% |
| Q3 2025 | $216M | -22% |
| Q2 2025 | $130M | -53% |
| Q1 2025 | $158M | +42% |
| Q4 2024 | $288M | +182% |
ZBRA 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.
ZBRA Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.7% | -316K shares |
| 1 year | -6.6% | -3.4M shares |
| 3 years | -6.9% | -3.5M shares |
| 5 years | -11% | -6.1M shares |
| Available history | -12% | -6.8M shares |
ZBRA has the edge over AAOI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $75M |
| Q2 2026 | $268M |
| Q1 2026 | $300M |
| Q4 2025 | $303M |
| Q3 2025 | $34M |
| Q2 2025 | $125M |
| Q1 2025 | $125M |
| Q4 2024 | $31M |
ZBRA spent $946M buying back its own shares over the past year, about three times what it spent 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.
ZBRA Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.4x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 2.8x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 1.4x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.4x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4x | Healthy |
ZBRA's net debt is about 2.1 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 1.2 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).
ZBRA Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 48.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 38.6 | Neutral |
ZBRA's weekly RSI is 49 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 39 (neutral).
AAOI PE vs Technology Sector
AAOI has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
ZBRA PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | ZBRA | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 26x | 28x | 8% below |
| PE % | 19 | 35 | 16 pts below |
ZBRA is trading at 26x earnings, in line with 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.
ZBRA Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $361.2 | 12% below |
| 20 week MA | $339.4 | 6.4% below |
| 50 week MA | $278.5 | 14% above |
| 100 week MA | $292.7 | 8.6% above |
| 200 week MA | $294.4 | 8% above |
ZBRA 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 ZBRA on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
ZBRA Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $256.0 | $376.9 | +47% |
| 2021 | $376.9 | $582.4 | +55% |
| 2022 | $582.4 | $248.2 | -57% |
| 2023 | $248.2 | $273.3 | +10% |
| 2024 | $273.3 | $389.1 | +42% |
| 2025 | $389.1 | $246.3 | -37% |
| 2026 YTD | $246.3 | $317.8 | +29% |
ZBRA has finished higher in four of the last six years. It's up 29% so far in 2026.