AAOI vs CIEN vs SILC Stock Comparison

Applied Optoelectronics, Ciena and Silicom Prices as of Nov 5, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CIEN Ciena Corp
$230.72 -48.0% 1M +17.8% 1Y
Market cap
$35.76B
P/E
54.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
7 wins
SILC Silicom Ltd.
$26.40 -57.2% 1M +68.3% 1Y
Market cap
$154.37M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$86.53M
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
1 win

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Ciena leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Ciena 7, Applied Optoelectronics 2, Silicom 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAAOICIENSILCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.01B $35.76B $154.37M CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -122.2x 54.6x -21.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 66.0x 30.4x — CIEN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +77.2% +32.6% +45.4% AAOI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -4.4% 10.9% -8.5% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -2.3% 12.4% — CIEN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 68.1x 0.7x — CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +48.8% +17.8% +68.3% SILC
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +51.6%/yr +30.7%/yr -10.4%/yr AAOI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 141.5% 81.6% 94.1% CIEN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 33/100 55/100 45/100 CIEN

Percentile Scorecard

AAOICIENSILC

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

AxisAAOICIENSILC
Valuation 14 #96 of 112 23 #87 of 112 52 #54 of 112
Growth 64 #40 of 108 94 #8 of 108 32 #74 of 108
Profitability 18 #85 of 104 82 #20 of 104 20 #83 of 104
Financial Health 63 #44 of 116 44 #65 of 116 77 #28 of 116
Shareholder Returns 4 #80 of 83 32 #57 of 83 –
Overall 33 55 45
  • AAOI ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • CIEN ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware
  • SILC ranked among 121 companies in Computer Hardware

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodAAOICIENSILCSPY
1 month -64.0%-48.0%-57.2% -5.9%
3 months -62.3%-42.8%-36.4% -4.6%
6 months -70.2%-57.2%-40.3% +0.2%
Year to date +34.5%-1.3%+79.6% +7.5%
1 year +48.8%+17.8%+68.3% +8.2%
3 years +383.9%+433.8%+74.3% +68.3%
3 years, per year +69.2%+74.8%+20.4% +19.0%
5 years +700.2%+281.4%-42.3% +56.5%
5 years, per year +51.6%+30.7%-10.4% +9.4%
10 years +116.6%+1,098.5%-24.2% +251.5%
10 years, per year +8.0%+28.2%-2.7% +13.4%

Risk

MeasureAAOICIENSILCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 141.5%81.6%94.1% 13.6%
Downside volatility, 1Y 132.3%89.5%87.3% 14.2%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 4.372.853.09 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.340.220.73 0.60
Max drawdown, 5Y -79.0%-63.2%-77.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -79.0%-63.2%-57.2% -5.9%
52-week high $223.10$627.00$61.65 $779.14
52-week low $19.49$176.45$13.50 $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.

MultipleAAOICIENSILC
P/E now vs peer median -122.1xmedian 25.2x 50.1xmedian 25.2x -20.6xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 2.4x 5.4xmedian 2.4x 1.7xmedian 2.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -463.5xmedian 16.2x 37.1xmedian 16.2x —median 16.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median -4.8xmedian 23.4x 40.2xmedian 23.4x —median 23.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 2.3x 10.7xmedian 2.3x 1.3xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median -2.91median 0.98 1.12median 0.98 0.54median 0.98

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 monthsAAOICIENSILC
Revenue $747.22M $6.02B $86.53M
Gross profit $215.22M $2.65B $25.87M
Operating income -$50.66M $738.95M -$8.46M
Net income -$32.78M $654.41M -$7.33M
Free cash flow -$883.41M $814.36M –
R&D $124.46M $924.94M $21.58M
EPS (diluted) $-0.37 $4.48 $-1.28
Cash & equivalents $605.41M $2.45B $13.74M
Total debt $59.99M $3.23B –
Shares (diluted) 87.84M 145.97M 5.71M
Enterprise value $2.26B $29.32B -$8.20M

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
MetricAAOICIENSILC
P/E -122.1x 50.1x -20.6x
P/FCF -4.8x 40.2x –
P/Operating cash flow -40.1x 31.0x –
P/S 5.7x 5.4x 1.7x
P/B 1.9x 10.7x 1.3x
P/Tangible book 1.9x 11.4x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA -463.5x 37.1x –
EV/EBIT -73.2x 45.1x -14.1x
EV/Revenue 5.0x 5.5x 1.4x
EV/FCF -4.2x 40.9x –
EV/Operating cash flow -34.9x 31.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.91 1.12 0.54

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Revenue growth (1Y) 77.2% 32.6% 45.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 50.6% 12.5% -16.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 74.0% 40.6% 43.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 70.3% 13.3% -18.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -2.2% 200.1% 35.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.8% 29.1% -36.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 79.0% 364.5% 51.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 19.3% 43.5% -36.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 84.8% 359.9% 48.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 41.9% 44.8% -37.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 37.3% 34.5% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -101.6% 201.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -192.6% 34.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -275.9% 95.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Gross margin 28.8% 44.1% 29.9%
EBITDA margin -1.1% 14.9% –
Operating margin -6.8% 12.3% -9.8%
Pretax margin -4.9% 12.1% -8.0%
Net margin -4.4% 10.9% -8.5%
FCF margin -118.2% 13.5% –
Operating cash flow margin -14.2% 17.5% –
Return on equity -1.7% 22.0% -6.3%
Return on assets -1.2% 9.3% -4.6%
Return on invested capital -2.3% 12.4% –
Return on capital employed -2.5% 13.1% -6.7%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 3.2x 1.6x –
Stock comp / revenue 2.4% 3.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Debt / assets 1.9% 40.4% –
Debt / equity 0.0x 1.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 68.1x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF -0.1x 4.0x –
Liabilities / assets 28.5% 61.8% 25.4%
Equity / assets 71.5% 38.2% 74.6%
Interest coverage -13.1x 10.6x –
Current ratio 2.3x 3.8x 3.8x
Quick ratio 1.5x 2.8x 1.6x
Cash ratio 0.9x 1.9x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 3.15 5.17 4.17

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -41.5% -1.5% –
Shareholder yield -41.5% -1.5% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusAAOICIENSILC
Forward P/E 66.0xFY2026 30.4xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $0.71FY2026 $7.60FY2026 $-0.25FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +187.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +646.5% +64.7% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $994.70MFY2026 $6.86BFY2026 $94.04MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +118.3%FY2026 +43.8%FY2026 +51.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +185.6% +18.0% +29.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersAAOICIENSILC
Held by institutions 60.5% 93.0% 43.1%
Institutions holding 482 1,224 51
Change in shares held, QoQ -3.5% -1.7% +42.4%
Institutions buying 313 733 32
Institutions selling 144 379 12
Buyers to sellers 2.17 1.93 2.67

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.

AAOICIENSILC
AAOI 1.00 0.61 0.39
CIEN 0.61 1.00 0.46
SILC 0.39 0.46 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, AAOI, CIEN and SILC?

Ciena (CIEN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) $4.01B, Ciena (CIEN) $35.76B, Silicom (SILC) $154.37M.

Which company is growing faster?

Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +77.2%, Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Silicom (SILC) +45.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -4.4%, Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Silicom (SILC) -8.5%). On return on invested capital, Ciena (CIEN) leads (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -2.3%, Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Silicom (SILC) returned the most: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +48.8%, Ciena (CIEN) +17.8%, Silicom (SILC) +68.3%. Over five years, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) compounded fastest (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +51.6%/yr, Ciena (CIEN) +30.7%/yr, Silicom (SILC) -10.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ciena (CIEN) has been the steadiest (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) 141.5%, Ciena (CIEN) 81.6%, Silicom (SILC) 94.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, AAOI, CIEN and SILC?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ciena (CIEN) leads on 7. 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.