Applied Optoelectronics’ sales up 22% in Q2, driven by ninth quarter of record data-center revenue

For second-quarter 2017, Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AOI) of Sugar Land, near Houston, TX, USA, a manufacturer of broadband fiber-optic access network products (including components, modules and equipment) for the Internet datacenter, CATV broadband, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and telecom markets, has reported record revenue of $117.4m, up 22% on $96.2m last quarter and up 112% on $55.3m a year ago.

Growth was driven by the ninth consecutive quarter of record revenue for data-center products: $99.3m (more than doubling from $41.3m a year ago), while CATV revenue rose by 51% from $9.5m to $14.4m, and FTTH revenue fell from $436,000 to $125,000.

On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin increased to a record 45.5%, up from 43.2% last quarter and 31.4% a year ago, driven by continued improvement in manufacturing costs and capacity expansion. Operating expenses have risen from $15.3m a year ago to $19m.

Net income has risen further, from $2.8m ($0.16 per diluted share) a year ago and $21.8m ($1.10 per diluted share) last quarter to a record $31.3m ($1.54 per diluted share).

During the quarter, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments rose from $60.6m to $75.9m.

“Our ability to leverage our vertical integration and proprietary manufacturing processes to drive greater efficiencies and shorten our production cycle times sets AOI apart from others in the industry,” believes founder, president & CEO Dr Thompson Lin.

“As we look into the third quarter, we see softer-than-expected demand for our 40G solutions with one of our large customers that will offset the sequential growth and increased demand we expect in 100G,” says Lin.

For third-quarter 2017, Applied Optoelectronics expects drops in revenue to $107-115m, gross margin to 43-44.5%, and net income to $26.6-29.4m ($1.30-1.43 per fully diluted share).

“We believe AOI has a leading position in the advanced optics market and we continue to expand within our existing customer base as well as engage with new customers for 100G technologies and beyond,” says Lin.