Applied Optoelectronics Breaks Ground on Planned Manufacturing Facility in the City of Sugar Land

Rhea-AI Summary

Applied Optoelectronics (NASDAQ: AAOI) held a groundbreaking on Feb 10, 2026, for a new 210,000 sq ft manufacturing facility at 1111 Gillingham St., Sugar Land, Texas. The company plans to increase investment from $150 million to potentially $300 million by the end of next year and has committed to creating 500 local jobs to support automated production lines for optical transceivers aimed at AI and datacenter customers.

Local and state officials attended; contractors named include LCC3 Solutions and Atlantic Building Consultant & Services.

Positive

• Planned 210,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Sugar Land
• Planned investment increase from $150M to $300M
• Commitment to create 500 local jobs
• Expansion intended to boost domestic supply of optical transceivers

Negative

• Planned capital spend up to $300M increases near-term funding needs

News Market Reaction

+1.07%

4 alerts

+1.07% News Effect

+$31M Valuation Impact

$2.88B Market Cap

0.1x Rel. Volume

On the day this news was published, AAOI gained 1.07%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction. Our momentum scanner triggered 4 alerts that day, indicating moderate trading interest and price volatility. This price movement added approximately $31M to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $2.88B at that time.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Facility size: 210,000 square feet Initial investment: $150 million Potential investment: $300 million +1 more

4 metrics

Facility size 210,000 square feet New manufacturing facility in Sugar Land, Texas

Initial investment $150 million Planned investment in Sugar Land facility and headquarters

Potential investment $300 million Potential total investment by end of next year

Local jobs 500 jobs Committed jobs related to automated production line programming

Market Reality Check

Price: $43.91 Vol: Volume 4,047,668 is below...

normal vol

$43.91 Last Close

Volume Volume 4,047,668 is below 20-day average 5,621,856 (relative volume 0.72), suggesting no outsized trading spike ahead of this news. normal

Technical Shares at $44.039 are trading above the 200-day MA of $27.35, but sit 13.31% below the 52-week high of $50.8 after a 9.11% daily decline.

Peers on Argus

AAOI fell 9.11% while close peers showed mixed moves (e.g., ADTN -4.29%, DGII -0...

AAOI fell 9.11% while close peers showed mixed moves (e.g., ADTN -4.29%, DGII -0.45%, HLIT +1.3%, NTGR +1.14%, TSAT -1.49%) and no peers appeared in the momentum scanner, pointing to a stock-specific reaction.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Feb 05 (Neutral)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Feb 05	Earnings call schedule	Neutral	-4.4%	Set date and time for Q4/FY 2025 results conference call.
Dec 18	New product launch	Positive	+7.8%	Introduced 400mW pump laser aimed at silicon photonics and CPO.
Dec 10	Customer volume order	Positive	+15.1%	Received first volume 800G transceiver order with Q4 revenue contribution.
Nov 25	Conference appearance	Neutral	+1.2%	Announced participation in Raymond James 2025 TMT & Consumer Conference.
Nov 06	Quarterly earnings	Negative	-7.7%	Reported Q3 2025 revenue growth but ongoing GAAP and non-GAAP net losses.

Pattern Detected

AAOI has often moved sharply on product and customer wins, while earnings-related items show more mixed or negative reactions.

Recent Company History

Over the past few months, AAOI has reported several milestones. A Q3 2025 earnings release on Nov 6 with $118.6M revenue but continued net loss saw shares fall 7.65%. Product and demand updates were better received: a first volume 800G transceiver order on Dec 10 and a new 400mW laser on Dec 18 drove gains of 15.14% and 7.77%. By contrast, neutral items like conference participation and the upcoming earnings call date had modest negative or small positive moves. Today’s U.S. manufacturing expansion news fits the broader growth narrative but coincides with a notable pullback.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement highlights AAOI’s plan to deepen its U.S. manufacturing base with a 210,000-square...

Analysis

This announcement highlights AAOI’s plan to deepen its U.S. manufacturing base with a 210,000-square-foot Sugar Land facility and potential investment rising from $150 million to $300 million, alongside a commitment to create 500 local jobs. It reinforces the strategy to be a large domestic supplier of optical transceivers for AI and datacenter markets. Investors may watch future earnings updates, utilization of the new capacity, and any changes in insider activity or large shareholder positions to gauge execution and capital impact.

Key Terms

hfc networking products, optical transceivers, ai, datacenter

4 terms

hfc networking products technical

"a leading provider of advanced optical and HFC networking products that power the internet"

HFC networking products are the physical equipment—such as cable modems, optical nodes, amplifiers, splitters and network controllers—that enable Hybrid Fiber‑Coaxial systems to deliver internet, television and phone services over a mix of fiber optic and coaxial cables. Investors watch these products because their performance, upgrade cycles and sales volume determine service quality, customer retention and capital spending needs; think of them as the pipes and pumps of a utility network that control capacity and revenue potential.

optical transceivers technical

"position us as one of the largest domestic suppliers of optical transceivers for the AI and datacenter industry"

Optical transceivers are small hardware modules that convert electrical signals into pulses of light and back again so data can travel over fiber-optic cables; think of them as translators that let computers and network equipment “talk” over long distances at very high speed. They matter to investors because demand, supply constraints, and price changes for these components directly affect the growth and profitability of companies serving data centers, telecom networks, and cloud services, similar to how a shortage of car engines would impact auto makers.

ai technical

"largest domestic suppliers of optical transceivers for the AI and datacenter industry"

Artificial intelligence (AI) is technology that enables machines to mimic human thinking and learning, allowing them to analyze information, recognize patterns, and make decisions. For investors, AI matters because it can improve how businesses operate, create new products, or identify opportunities faster and more accurately than humans alone, potentially impacting company success and market trends.

datacenter technical

"optical transceivers for the AI and datacenter industry"

A datacenter is a secure facility that houses rows of computers, storage devices and networking equipment that store, process and move large volumes of digital information — like a bank vault and power plant combined for internet services. It matters to investors because datacenters are capital‑intensive infrastructure that generate recurring fees from cloud, software and finance customers, and their reliability, energy costs and location can directly affect a company’s revenue stability, profit margins and growth prospects.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

SUGAR LAND, Texas, Feb. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI) (“AOI”), a leading provider of advanced optical and HFC networking products that power the internet, held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, February 10, for its new 210,000 square foot manufacturing facility located at 1111 Gillingham St. in Sugar Land, Texas.

“The commencement of construction on our new manufacturing facility in Sugar Land marks an important milestone for AOI,” said Dr. Thompson Lin, AOI’s Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We plan to increase our investment in this facility and our headquarters from $150 million to potentially $300 million by the end of next year. We’ve committed to creating 500 local jobs related to the programming of AOI’s automated production lines, and we believe this expansion project, intended to support the growing needs of our industry and customers, will position us as one of the largest domestic suppliers of optical transceivers for the AI and datacenter industry.”

“The state of Texas has done a phenomenal job in positioning itself to be the leader in AI,” said Dr. Stefan Murry, AOI’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. “As we begin construction on our previously announced manufacturing facility, we are proud to expand our US footprint, manufacturing capacity, and bring new jobs to Sugar Land. We are deeply appreciative of our hardworking employees, and the local, state, and federal officials whose ongoing support has been instrumental to our expansion plans.”

Representatives from the city, including Mayor Carol McCutcheon, attended the event, along with officials from Fort Bend County and members of the project team, including Colleyville-based LCC3 Solutions Inc. and Atlantic Building Consultant & Services, which are serving as contractors and construction managers for the project.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "believe," "may," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "should," "could," "would," "target," "seek," "aim," "predicts," "think," "objectives," "optimistic," "new," "goal," "strategy," "potential," "is likely," "will," "expect," "plan" "project," "permit" or by other similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These statements include management’s plans and objectives, including with respect to increasing the company’s investment to potentially $300 million, the timing of such investment, and creating local jobs; and management’s beliefs and expectations, including the positioning of the company as one of the largest domestic suppliers for the AI and datacenter industry. Such forward-looking statements reflect the views of management at the time such statements are made. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions and current expectations, which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: reduction in the size or quantity of customer orders; change in demand for the company's products due to industry conditions; changes in manufacturing operations; volatility in manufacturing costs; delays in shipments of products; disruptions in the supply chain; change in the rate of design wins or the rate of customer acceptance of new products; the company's reliance on a small number of customers for a substantial portion of its revenues; potential pricing pressure; a decline in demand for our customers' products or their rate of deployment of their products; general conditions in the internet datacenter, cable television (CATV) broadband, telecom, or fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) markets; changes in the world economy (particularly in the United States and China); changes in the regulation and taxation of international trade, including the imposition of tariffs; changes in currency exchange rates; the negative effects of seasonality; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in the company's documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. More information about these and other risks that may impact the company's business are set forth in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's quarterly and annual reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to us as of the date hereof, and qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this press release to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the company's expectations.

About Applied Optoelectronics

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced optical and Hybrid Fiber-Coax (HFC) networking products that are the building blocks for AI datacenters, CATV and broadband fiber access networks around the world. AOI supplies this critical infrastructure to tier-one customers across cloud computing, CATV broadband, telecom, and FTTH markets. The company has R&D facilities in Atlanta, GA, and engineering and manufacturing facilities at its corporate headquarters in Sugar Land, TX, as well as in Taipei, Taiwan and Ningbo, China. For additional information, visit www.ao-inc.com.

Investor Relations Contacts:

The Blueshirt Group, Investor Relations
Lindsay Savarese
+1-212-331-8417
ir@ao-inc.com

FAQ

What did AAOI announce about its new Sugar Land manufacturing facility on February 10, 2026?

AAOI announced a groundbreaking for a 210,000 sq ft facility in Sugar Land on Feb 10, 2026. According to the company, construction begins at 1111 Gillingham St., aimed at expanding domestic optical transceiver production for AI and datacenter customers.

How much will AAOI invest in the Sugar Land facility and by when will that investment occur?

AAOI plans to raise investment from $150 million to potentially $300 million by the end of next year. According to the company, the increased funding will support construction, automation, and expanded production capacity at the new site.

How many jobs will AAOI create with the Sugar Land expansion and what roles are expected?

AAOI committed to creating 500 local jobs tied to programming automated production lines. According to the company, these roles focus on automation, manufacturing operations, and support functions for the new optical transceiver facility.

Where exactly is AAOI’s new manufacturing site and which contractors are involved?

The facility is at 1111 Gillingham St., Sugar Land, Texas. According to the company, contractors and construction managers include Colleyville-based LCC3 Solutions and Atlantic Building Consultant & Services.

What strategic purpose does the Sugar Land facility serve for AAOI (NASDAQ: AAOI)?

The facility is intended to increase US manufacturing capacity and domestic supply of optical transceivers for AI and datacenter markets. According to the company, it supports growth in automated production and strengthens the US footprint.

When was the AAOI groundbreaking event held and who attended from the local community?

The groundbreaking event was held on February 10, 2026 and included city and county representatives. According to the company, Mayor Carol McCutcheon and Fort Bend County officials attended alongside project team members.