Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) rose more than 23% earlier today and reached a new 52-week high following a hike in the company’s second quarter guidance by management this morning. Shares ended the day up by 18.04%. Second quarter non-GAAP earnings per share are now expected to fall between $0.36 and $0.38 compared to the earlier outlook of $0.25 to $0.30, representing a significant hike of as much as 50% from the previous low-end to the new top-end of the guidance range. Analysts expected the company to hit around the previous guidance’s mid-point, predicting $0.27. Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) is scheduled to release its financial results for the second quarter on August 5. Even before today, the stock of the $26.41 million provider of fiber-optic networking products had posted gains of over 50% this year. It has certainly been a high performer for the semiconductor industry, which has only risen by about 8% in comparison, during the same time period. Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s financial results for the first quarter on the other hand missed expectations. The $0.02 EPS was less than the anticipated $0.09, while revenues of $30.23 million fell short by $1.64 million.
The smart money tracked by Insider Monkey was very bullish on the company during the first quarter of the year, which may have signaled to investors that the best money managers in the world saw improved operations and performance like this coming. Among the investment firms that we track, 13 funds had an aggregate investment of $132.14 million in Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) at the end of March, compared to ten firms with just $21.36 million in holdings at the end of last year. While shares had a strong first quarter, gaining over 23%, that doesn’t nearly account for the greater than 520% increase in the holdings of the smart money. They were right on the money, as shares have gained another 43.8% since the end of the first quarter.
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