Strong Guidance Powers Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AAOI) Higher

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) rallied 22% in the pre-market on Thursday after the optical networking company announced better-than-expected preliminary first quarter results. For the period, Applied Optoelectronics sees sales coming in at $96.2 million, versus the Street consensus of $89.7 million and the past guidance of $87-$91 million. Earnings per share for the three months is seen rising to $1-$1.02, easily better than the analyst average of $0.83 and the company’s previous outlook of $0.80-$0.88.

CEO Thompson Lin said, ‘We delivered another strong quarter with our top and bottom-line results expected to exceed our guidance. Our results were driven by continued robust demand for our market-leading datacenter products and solid execution. We are pleased with our momentum and look forward to sharing the additional details of our first quarter performance on our conference call in May’.

Given that the optical sector had trended lower in recent weeks due to the anticipated softer demand from China (on the account of some customers double-ordering), Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI)’s first quarter results have certainly caught some traders by surprise, and a short squeeze may be playing a part in the extended-market rally.

What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

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16 top funds had a bullish position in Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) at the end of December, unchanged from that of the previous quarter.

The Bottom Line

Applied Optoelectronics Inc (NASDAQ:AAOI) shares are higher on Thursday due to strong guidance. For more reading, check out ‘10 most advanced countries in information technology‘.

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