Why Applied Optoelectronics Inc. Stock Is Plunging Today

Shares of Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ: AAOI) are plunging today, trading 26% lower as of 12:32 p.m. EDT, after the company reported second-quarter earnings.

The maker of lasers and transceivers used to build fiber-optic networking equipment released second-quarter results on Thursday night. Earnings rose nearly ninefold compared to the year-ago quarter, landing at $1.54 per share. Sales more than doubled from $55.3 million to $117 million. Both figures were well ahead of Wall Street's projections, which called for earnings of $1.32 per share on revenue near $116 million.

So the reported numbers were better than expected, and third-quarter earnings guidance of roughly $1.37 per share also topped the current analyst view of $1.31 per share. However, revenue guidance stopped at $111 million, falling short of analysts' $123 million consensus estimate. It looks like the soft revenue projection is outweighing the positive surprises today.

Source: Fool.com