New York, March 2, 2026, 07:58 EST — Premarket
- AAOI shares rose in premarket trade, extending a sharp move from the prior session
- Traders are still digesting the company’s latest results and near-term sales outlook
- New SEC filings on a share-sale program and capacity moves are also in focus
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. shares were up 15.6% at $97.40 in premarket trading on Monday, building on Friday’s 56.9% surge that left the stock at $84.23.
The move matters because AAOI sits in the plumbing of data traffic — optical components and modules that help move bits around cloud data centers and cable networks — and it has become a high-beta way to play the arms race in faster links for AI-heavy computing.
After Friday’s jump, Monday’s premarket action sets up a simple test: whether buyers keep pressing ahead of the open, or whether the stock gives back gains as investors pick through what is driving demand and how quickly the company can supply it.
Late last week, the company reported what it called record fourth-quarter results, with GAAP revenue of $134.3 million and a GAAP net loss of $2.0 million. It forecast first-quarter revenue of $150 million to $165 million and said non-GAAP gross margin — a metric that strips out certain items such as stock-based compensation — was expected at 29% to 31%. “We are pleased to deliver record fourth quarter results,” CEO Dr. Thompson Lin said, while CFO Dr. Stefan Murry pointed to “expanding our manufacturing capacity” as the company prepares for higher volumes of next-generation data-center products. Securities and Exchange Commission
A separate SEC filing showed the company set up an “at-the-market” share sale program for up to $250 million with Raymond James and Needham. An at-the-market program lets a company sell stock into the market from time to time, rather than in a single block, and can dilute shareholders if used aggressively.
Another filing detailed a new long-term lease in Houston for office, warehouse and light manufacturing and assembly space, with an option to buy the building later.
On its earnings call, management talked up demand for higher-speed data-center optics — including 800G and 1.6T transceivers, shorthand for how much data the modules can carry — and sketched out aggressive longer-term targets. It said it expects 2026 revenue “over $1 billion” and described growth as “limited by our production capacity and supply chain, not market demand.” Executives were also scheduled to appear at investor events this week, including the Raymond James conference on March 3 and an Optical Fiber Communication Conference session on March 17. The Motley Fool
Applied Optoelectronics competes in a crowded optics supply chain that includes bigger names tied to data-center spending. For investors, the question is less about whether demand exists and more about who can ramp cleanly, at margin, without choking on parts, test capacity or qualification delays.
Still, the setup cuts both ways. The company is guiding to a non-GAAP loss range for the current quarter, and any slip in customer timing — or a turn in risk appetite after a fast run — can hit a stock that has been moving in wide arcs. The new share-sale program adds another variable.
With the regular session set to start at 9:30 a.m. ET, traders will watch whether AAOI holds the premarket lift and what management says next at the March 3 conference stage about production ramps and customer demand.
