Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) Drops 13% After Hours as AI Spending Doubts Grow
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on July 29, 2026.
Applied Optoelectronics plunged 13.2% as traders reassess whether AI infrastructure spending can sustain current valuations.
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Applied Optoelectronics closed the regular session at $88.14, but after-hours trading told a very different story, with shares sliding to $76.52 — a decline of roughly 13.2%. The selling was steady and persistent across the session, with the stock drifting lower from the mid-$82 range all the way down to the mid-$70s as the hours wore on.
The pressure reflects a broader reassessment among traders about whether the pace of AI infrastructure spending is strong enough to justify the valuations that companies like Applied Optoelectronics have built up. As a supplier of optical networking components used in data centers, AAOI's stock is highly sensitive to signals about hyperscaler capital expenditure and the appetite for high-speed connectivity buildouts.
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After-hours moves of this magnitude can be volatile and subject to thin liquidity, so whether the selling pressure carries into the next regular session will be a key thing to watch. Investors will be looking for any fresh data points on AI infrastructure commitments from major cloud and data center operators that could either confirm or push back against the sentiment driving tonight's decline.
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Mentioned: AAOI