Forensic Analysis · Semiconductors · as of Aug 11, 2026
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI)
A forensic read on Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
F · Poor — capital at risk
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
13.3
Distress distance
Watch
Earnings quality
6
Forensic signals
-176.1
P / E (ttm)
-5.2%
ROE
$11.2B
Market cap
0.00%
Dividend yield
82.8%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. earns an F (Poor — capital at risk) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 13.3, placing it in the Safe zone. 6 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of noa).
What the filings flag
+99.6%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +99.6% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building sharply — a large slice of profit sits in operating assets, not cash; Richardson/Sloan link high accruals to weaker future returns as they reverse. The build is led by receivables up +109% against revenue +83% and inventory up +108% against +70% in cost of sales. The cash-flow cross-check agrees: reported earnings ran ahead of operating cash by 36% of net operating assets.
145d DSO
FY2024→FY2025
Receivables vs revenue.Days sales outstanding moved from 121 to 145 days FY2024→FY2025 (receivables +109% vs revenue +83%). Receivables are outrunning sales — a flag for aggressive revenue recognition or slipping collections. Across FY2021–FY2025 the day count ran 78 → 89 → 92 → 121 → 145 days — the latest step continues a climb that was already under way, which is the persistence that separates a collection problem from a busy quarter.
-5.8%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is -5.8% in the latest fiscal year and rising from -15% — well below its ~10% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+29.3%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +116% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+29.3%/yr). The count is growing: more stock was issued than repurchased over this window, so aggregate results grew faster than their per-share equivalents. That's ~29.3% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~54%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$455.7M
Revenue Growth YoY+82.8%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+26.9%
Net Margin-8.4%
Free Cash Flow-$353.6M
Return on Equity-5.2%
Debt / Equity0.05x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?
Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Aug 11, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
3% of rev
FY2025
Stock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 3% of revenue in FY2025 — about $0.19 per diluted share. The cost of it is not in the cash flow — no cash left the business — it is in the count: holders gave up about 29.9% of the company a year, and that rate is not falling. That is the figure to weigh, not the share of free cash flow.
155d
FY2024→FY2025
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 148 to 155 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +108% vs +70% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.