AAOI vs CALX vs CHTR Stock Comparison

Applied Optoelectronics, Calix and Charter Communications Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CALX Calix, Inc
$38.13 +14.9% 1M -38.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.40B
P/E
47.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.11B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Charter Communications leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Charter Communications 6, Applied Optoelectronics 3, Calix 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAAOICALXCHTRLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.65B $2.40B $12.98B CHTR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -116.7x 47.0x 2.6x CHTR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 115.8x 23.5x 2.5x CHTR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +61.8% +27.8% -1.5% AAOI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -9.6% 4.6% 9.1% CHTR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -4.2% — 8.4% CHTR
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 13.8x — 4.4x CHTR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +123.0% -38.3% -57.7% AAOI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +60.8%/yr -9.4%/yr -31.0%/yr AAOI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 139.0% 41.6% 55.7% CALX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 33/100 76/100 65/100 CALX

Percentile Scorecard

AAOICALXCHTR

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisAAOICALXCHTR
Valuation 12 #98 of 111 59 #46 of 111 90 #6 of 49
Growth 54 #50 of 108 82 #20 of 108 41 #27 of 45
Profitability 17 #87 of 104 64 #38 of 104 82 #9 of 45
Financial Health 72 #33 of 115 75 #29 of 115 10 #44 of 49
Shareholder Returns 9 #71 of 78 97 #3 of 78 100 #1 of 37
Overall 33 76 65
  • AAOI ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • CALX ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • CHTR ranked among 51 companies in Telecommunications

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodAAOICALXCHTRSPY
1 month -15.1%+14.9%-5.4% +0.9%
3 months +7.4%+7.2%-27.4% +5.9%
6 months -46.2%-8.5%-33.6% +8.5%
Year to date +135.9%-28.0%-49.5% +13.3%
1 year +123.0%-38.3%-57.7% +12.4%
3 years +1,067.9%+16.6%-71.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year +127.0%+5.2%-34.3% +23.5%
5 years +974.8%-39.1%-84.4% +68.2%
5 years, per year +60.8%-9.4%-31.0% +11.0%
10 years +317.6%+495.8%-57.7% +263.4%
10 years, per year +15.4%+19.5%-8.2% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureAAOICALXCHTRSPY
Volatility, 1Y 139.0%41.6%55.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 127.1%43.8%65.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 4.320.880.15 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.89-0.92-1.03 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.6%-65.3%-85.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -63.1%-44.3%-57.7% -0.9%
52-week high $223.10$68.42$248.88 $779.14
52-week low $19.49$33.15$102.18 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleAAOICALXCHTR
P/E now vs peer median -117.6xmedian 33.5x 47.3xmedian 33.5x 2.6xmedian 11.6x
P/S now vs peer median 11.6xmedian 2.8x 2.2xmedian 2.8x 0.2xmedian 1.1x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -202.3xmedian 19.6x 27.9xmedian 19.6x 4.9xmedian 6.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -11.5xmedian 29.8x 28.1xmedian 29.8x 2.9xmedian 6.3x
P/B now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 2.9x 3.4xmedian 2.9x 0.6xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -3.54median 1.10 6.69median 1.10 0.25median 0.24

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsAAOICALXCHTR
Revenue $595.97M $1.11B $54.40B
Gross profit $172.33M $628.73M –
Operating income -$67.41M $61.25M $12.66B
Net income -$57.02M $51.19M $5.75B
Free cash flow -$600.81M $85.42M $4.36B
R&D $107.61M $207.99M –
EPS (diluted) $-0.70 $0.78 $40.61
Cash & equivalents $499.74M $68.91M $509.00M
Total debt $57.26M – $93.96B
Shares (diluted) 81.57M 65.51M 121.26M
Enterprise value $5.37B $1.24B $11.01B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricAAOICALXCHTR
P/E -117.6x 47.3x 2.6x
P/FCF -11.5x 28.1x 2.9x
P/Operating cash flow -52.6x 21.9x 0.8x
P/S 11.6x 2.2x 0.2x
P/B 4.2x 3.4x 0.6x
P/Tangible book 4.2x 3.4x -0.3x
EV/EBITDA -202.3x 27.9x 4.9x
EV/EBIT -96.4x 36.0x 8.4x
EV/Revenue 10.9x 2.0x 1.9x
EV/FCF -10.8x 25.8x 24.3x
EV/Operating cash flow -49.3x 20.1x 6.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.54 6.69 0.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAAOICALXCHTR
Revenue growth (1Y) 61.8% 27.8% -1.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 40.9% 3.9% -0.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 62.0% 30.3% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 73.3% 7.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -40.6% 273.3% -4.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -2.8% 3.8% 1.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 63.4% 290.5% -5.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 4.9% 2.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 74.5% 287.6% 9.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 33.2% 7.1% 10.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.2% 24.5% 8.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -168.6% 41.8% 5.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -146.3% 19.4% 1.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -294.2% 62.0% 7.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAAOICALXCHTR
Gross margin 28.9% 56.6% –
EBITDA margin -5.4% 7.1% 39.4%
Operating margin -11.3% 5.5% 23.3%
Pretax margin -10.6% 6.5% 13.8%
Net margin -9.6% 4.6% 9.1%
FCF margin -100.8% 7.7% 8.0%
Operating cash flow margin -22.1% 9.9% 30.3%
Return on equity -4.1% 7.1% 26.8%
Return on assets -2.9% 5.4% 3.7%
Return on invested capital -4.2% – 8.4%
Return on capital employed -4.5% 8.2% 9.0%
Asset turnover 0.3x 1.2x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.1x 2.9x
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% 7.2% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAAOICALXCHTR
Debt / assets 2.5% – 60.4%
Debt / equity 0.0x – 4.3x
Net debt / EBITDA 13.8x – 4.4x
Debt / FCF -0.1x – 21.6x
Liabilities / assets 27.5% 25.6% 85.9%
Equity / assets 72.5% 74.4% 14.1%
Interest coverage -19.1x – –
Current ratio 2.8x 2.8x 0.4x
Quick ratio 1.9x 1.6x 0.3x
Cash ratio 1.2x 0.9x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 6.81 7.25 0.58

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAAOICALXCHTR
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -19.5% 8.0% 37.7%
Shareholder yield -19.5% 8.0% 37.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusAAOICALXCHTR
Forward P/E 115.8xFY2026 23.5xFY2026 2.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $0.71FY2026 $1.62FY2026 $42.86FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +20.9%FY2026 +18.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +646.5% +48.1% -4.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $994.70MFY2026 $1.11BFY2026 $57.99BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +118.3%FY2026 +11.0%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +185.6% +18.8% -13.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAAOICALXCHTR
Held by institutions 60.5% 94.5% 83.8%
Institutions holding 481 288 783
Change in shares held, QoQ -3.5% +0.5% +4.3%
Institutions buying 313 148 423
Institutions selling 143 111 241
Buyers to sellers 2.19 1.33 1.76

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

AAOICALXCHTR
AAOI 1.00 0.24 -0.09
CALX 0.24 1.00 0.06
CHTR -0.09 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAOI, CALX and CHTR?

Charter Communications (CHTR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) $6.65B, Calix (CALX) $2.40B, Charter Communications (CHTR) $12.98B.

Which stock is cheaper, AAOI, CALX and CHTR?

Charter Communications (CHTR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -116.7x, Calix (CALX) 47.0x, Charter Communications (CHTR) 2.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Charter Communications (CHTR) is cheapest (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) 115.8x, Calix (CALX) 23.5x, Charter Communications (CHTR) 2.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +61.8%, Calix (CALX) +27.8%, Charter Communications (CHTR) -1.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Charter Communications (CHTR) has the highest net margin (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -9.6%, Calix (CALX) 4.6%, Charter Communications (CHTR) 9.1%). On return on invested capital, Charter Communications (CHTR) leads (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -4.2%, Charter Communications (CHTR) 8.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) returned the most: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +123.0%, Calix (CALX) -38.3%, Charter Communications (CHTR) -57.7%. Over five years, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) compounded fastest (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +60.8%/yr, Calix (CALX) -9.4%/yr, Charter Communications (CHTR) -31.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Calix (CALX) has been the steadiest (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) 139.0%, Calix (CALX) 41.6%, Charter Communications (CHTR) 55.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AAOI, CALX and CHTR?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Charter Communications (CHTR) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.