AAOI vs CIEN vs SILC Stock Comparison

Applied Optoelectronics, Ciena and Silicom Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CIEN Ciena Corp
$349.15 -1.6% 1M +84.5% 1Y
Market cap
$45.23B
P/E
69.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.02B
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology
7 wins
SILC Silicom Ltd.
$35.31 -31.3% 1M +89.9% 1Y
Market cap
$194.87M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$86.53M
Div. yield
–
Networking Equipment Technology

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Ciena leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Ciena 7, Applied Optoelectronics 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionAAOICIENSILCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.59B $45.23B $194.87M CIEN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -98.1x 69.1x -26.6x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 111.5x 45.9x — CIEN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +61.8% +32.6% +45.4% AAOI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -9.6% 10.9% -8.5% CIEN
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -4.2% 12.4% — CIEN
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 13.8x 0.7x — CIEN
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +123.2% +84.5% +89.9% AAOI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +59.6%/yr +45.1%/yr -3.4%/yr AAOI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 139.0% 77.9% 93.1% CIEN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 32/100 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 12 #99 of 112 21 #89 of 112 51 #56 of 112
Growth 54 #50 of 108 94 #7 of 108 33 #73 of 108
Profitability 16 #88 of 104 84 #18 of 104 21 #82 of 104
Financial Health 71 #34 of 116 41 #69 of 116 76 #29 of 116
Shareholder Returns 9 #71 of 78 36 #50 of 78 –
Overall 32 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 -21.3%-1.6%-31.3% +0.7%
3 months -12.1%-6.1%-8.2% +3.7%
6 months -51.8%-33.8%-8.9% +7.1%
Year to date +127.2%+49.3%+140.2% +12.8%
1 year +123.2%+84.5%+89.9% +11.9%
3 years +1,018.5%+750.3%+135.4% +85.2%
3 years, per year +123.8%+104.2%+33.1% +22.8%
5 years +935.2%+543.1%-15.9% +67.6%
5 years, per year +59.6%+45.1%-3.4% +10.9%
10 years +302.2%+1,689.6%-1.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year +14.9%+33.4%-0.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureAAOICIENSILCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 139.0%77.9%93.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 127.1%82.7%85.5% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 4.322.803.07 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.891.080.97 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -82.6%-49.7%-77.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -64.5%-44.3%-42.7% -1.2%
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 -113.3xmedian 32.9x 75.8xmedian 32.9x -27.5xmedian 32.9x
P/S now vs peer median 11.2xmedian 2.9x 8.2xmedian 2.9x 2.3xmedian 2.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -194.4xmedian 20.0x 55.9xmedian 20.0x —median 20.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -11.1xmedian 30.2x 60.8xmedian 30.2x —median 30.2x
P/B now vs peer median 4.0xmedian 2.9x 16.2xmedian 2.9x 1.7xmedian 2.9x
PEG now vs peer median -3.41median 1.08 1.69median 1.08 0.73median 1.08

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 $595.97M $6.02B $86.53M
Gross profit $172.33M $2.65B $25.87M
Operating income -$67.41M $738.95M -$8.46M
Net income -$57.02M $654.41M -$7.33M
Free cash flow -$600.81M $814.36M –
R&D $107.61M $924.94M $21.58M
EPS (diluted) $-0.70 $4.48 $-1.28
Cash & equivalents $499.74M $2.45B $13.74M
Total debt $57.26M $3.23B –
Shares (diluted) 81.57M 145.97M 5.71M
Enterprise value $4.31B $38.79B $77.06M

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 -113.3x 75.8x -27.5x
P/FCF -11.1x 60.8x –
P/Operating cash flow -50.7x 47.0x –
P/S 11.2x 8.2x 2.3x
P/B 4.0x 16.2x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 4.0x 17.3x 1.8x
EV/EBITDA -194.4x 55.9x –
EV/EBIT -92.6x 67.9x -20.6x
EV/Revenue 10.5x 8.3x 2.0x
EV/FCF -10.4x 61.6x –
EV/Operating cash flow -47.3x 47.5x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.41 1.69 0.73

Growth

14 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Revenue growth (1Y) 61.8% 32.6% 45.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 40.9% 12.5% -16.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 62.0% 40.6% 43.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 73.3% 13.3% -18.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -40.6% 200.1% 35.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -2.8% 29.1% -36.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 63.4% 364.5% 51.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 43.5% -36.0%
EPS growth (1Y) 74.5% 359.9% 48.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 33.2% 44.8% -37.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 15.2% 34.5% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -168.6% 201.2% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -146.3% 34.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -294.2% 95.4% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Gross margin 28.9% 44.1% 29.9%
EBITDA margin -5.4% 14.9% –
Operating margin -11.3% 12.3% -9.8%
Pretax margin -10.6% 12.1% -8.0%
Net margin -9.6% 10.9% -8.5%
FCF margin -100.8% 13.5% –
Operating cash flow margin -22.1% 17.5% –
Return on equity -4.1% 22.0% -6.3%
Return on assets -2.9% 9.3% -4.6%
Return on invested capital -4.2% 12.4% –
Return on capital employed -4.5% 13.1% -6.7%
Asset turnover 0.3x 0.9x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 1.6x –
Stock comp / revenue 2.6% 3.5% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Debt / assets 2.5% 40.4% –
Debt / equity 0.0x 1.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA 13.8x 0.7x –
Debt / FCF -0.1x 4.0x –
Liabilities / assets 27.5% 61.8% 25.4%
Equity / assets 72.5% 38.2% 74.6%
Interest coverage -19.1x 10.6x –
Current ratio 2.8x 3.8x 3.8x
Quick ratio 1.9x 2.8x 1.5x
Cash ratio 1.2x 1.9x 0.9x
Altman Z-score 6.57 7.21 4.94

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricAAOICIENSILC
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield -20.2% -1.0% –
Shareholder yield -20.2% -1.0% 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 111.5xFY2026 45.9xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $0.71FY2026 $7.60FY2026 $-0.43FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +187.9%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +646.5% +64.7% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $994.70MFY2026 $6.86BFY2026 $91.18MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +118.3%FY2026 +43.8%FY2026 +47.2%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% 92.9% 43.1%
Institutions holding 481 1,221 51
Change in shares held, QoQ -3.5% -1.7% +42.4%
Institutions buying 313 730 32
Institutions selling 143 379 12
Buyers to sellers 2.19 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 0.59 0.36
CIEN 0.59 1.00 0.42
SILC 0.36 0.42 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) $5.59B, Ciena (CIEN) $45.23B, Silicom (SILC) $194.87M.

Which company is growing faster?

Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +61.8%, Ciena (CIEN) +32.6%, Silicom (SILC) +45.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ciena (CIEN) has the highest net margin (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -9.6%, Ciena (CIEN) 10.9%, Silicom (SILC) -8.5%). On return on invested capital, Ciena (CIEN) leads (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) -4.2%, Ciena (CIEN) 12.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) returned the most: Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +123.2%, Ciena (CIEN) +84.5%, Silicom (SILC) +89.9%. Over five years, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) compounded fastest (Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) +59.6%/yr, Ciena (CIEN) +45.1%/yr, Silicom (SILC) -3.4%/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) 139.0%, Ciena (CIEN) 77.9%, Silicom (SILC) 93.1%). 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.