Power & Sites · United States

AOI Targets Million-Unit Monthly Optics Capacity as 800G and 1.6T Demand Accelerates

Credited to Converge Digest · convergedigest.com · 9h ago

Applied Optoelectronics (AOI) reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $269.9 million, up 128% from $118.6 million a year earlier and 41% from $191.9 million in the second quarter. It was the company’s sixth consecutive record quarter. Datacenter revenue rose to $155.6 million from $43.9 million, an increase of 254%, and accounted for 58% of sales. CATV revenue grew 57% to $110.9 million, while Telecom fell to $2.7 million from $3.7 million. AOI said it has signed a multi-year strategic agreement with a Tier 1 hyperscale datacenter customer. The release does not name the customer or give the value or term of the agreement.

Manufacturing capacity is the focus of AOI’s 800G and 1.6T transceiver ramp. The company said its total manufacturing equipment capacity is approaching 330,000 units per month. It expects to have enough equipment installed by the end of 2026 to produce more than 500,000 800G and 1.6T transceivers per month, and more than 1 million per month by the end of 2027. AOI also said its 2027 U.S. capacity expansion will take longer than planned because obtaining the necessary electrical power is taking longer than expected, among other construction issues. Property, plant and equipment rose to $1.04 billion at September 30 from $376.1 million at December 31, 2025. Inventories more than doubled to $378.0 million, and cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash rose to $621.5 million from $216.0 million.

AOI returned to GAAP profitability, with net income of $6.3 million, or $0.07 per share. That compares with net losses of $17.9 million ($0.28 per share) a year earlier and $22.8 million in the second quarter. The operating loss narrowed to $1.4 million, and $10.1 million of net other income brought the company into a pre-tax profit. Non-GAAP net income was $14.8 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, and Adjusted EBITDA was $28.5 million, compared with $2.0 million a year earlier. GAAP gross margin was 28.2%. Non-GAAP gross margin slipped to 28.7% from 29.8% in Q2 and 31.0% a year earlier. Research and development spending rose 79% to $38.1 million. For the fourth quarter, AOI guides revenue of $385 million to $420 million, non-GAAP gross margin of 29.5% to 31%, and non-GAAP net income of $45.9 million to $60.4 million, or $0.48 to $0.63 per share on approximately 96 million shares.

“We are pleased to have generated record revenue for our sixth consecutive quarter and to have returned to GAAP profitability in Q3,” said Dr. Thompson Lin, AOI’s Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We have made meaningful progress in scaling our manufacturing capabilities, particularly for our 800G and 1.6T products, to address demand for AI-related optical technologies that we believe is accelerating. We have recently secured a multi-year strategic agreement with a Tier 1 hyperscale datacenter customer, which we think provides us with improved long-term visibility and reinforces our confidence in the opportunity ahead as demand for high-bandwidth, energy-efficient optical connectivity products continues to grow.”

Key Points: Applied Optoelectronics Q3 2026

DATACENTER OPTICS • Datacenter revenue $155.6M, +254% YoY (from $43.9M); 58% of total revenue • Nine-month Datacenter revenue $344.7M vs. $120.8M in 2025 • Multi-year strategic agreement with a Tier 1 hyperscale datacenter customer (customer, value and term not disclosed) • CEO cites progress scaling 800G and 1.6T manufacturing

CAPACITY • Total manufacturing equipment capacity approaching 330,000 units/month • Target: equipment for 500,000+ 800G/1.6T units/month by end of 2026 • Target: 1M+ 800G/1.6T transceivers/month by end of 2027 • 2027 U.S. expansion to take longer because of delays obtaining electrical power and other construction issues • PP&E $1.04B at Sep 30 vs. $376.1M at Dec 31, 2025; inventories $378.0M vs. $183.1M

Q3 RESULTS • Revenue $269.9M, +128% YoY, +41% QoQ; sixth consecutive record quarter • CATV $110.9M (+57%); Telecom $2.7M (vs. $3.7M); Other $0.7M • Gross margin: GAAP 28.2%; non-GAAP 28.7% (vs. 29.8% in Q2 and 31.0% a year earlier) • Net income: GAAP $6.3M ($0.07/share); non-GAAP $14.8M ($0.17/diluted share) • Adjusted EBITDA $28.5M vs. $2.0M; R&D $38.1M (+79%)

BALANCE SHEET • Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $621.5M (vs. $216.0M at Dec 31, 2025) • Accounts payable $494.3M; convertible senior notes $128.8M • Total stockholders’ equity $2.24B (vs. $733.9M)

Q4 2026 GUIDANCE • Revenue $385M–$420M (midpoint +49% QoQ) • Non-GAAP gross margin 29.5%–31% • Non-GAAP net income $45.9M–$60.4M; non-GAAP EPS $0.48–$0.63 on ~96M shares

AOI’s quarter shows how the 800G and 1.6T transceiver market is working: demand is set by a small number of hyperscale buyers, and supply depends on how quickly vendors can add capacity. Datacenter revenue more than tripled year over year, and the fourth-quarter outlook points to another sequential increase of about 49% at the midpoint. AOI frames the new Tier 1 agreement as a source of longer-term visibility. Because the customer, value and term are not disclosed, the agreement shows the direction of demand but not its size. AOI’s own risk factors list reliance on a small number of customers for a substantial portion of revenue, so the timing of a few hyperscale orders still drives results. The capacity plan scales a supply line of roughly 330,000 units per month of total equipment capacity to more than 1 million 800G and 1.6T units per month by the end of 2027, about a threefold increase. The release ties the delay to the 2027 U.S. buildout to electrical power and construction, not demand. That links the optics supply chain to the same power-availability limits facing AI data centers themselves.

Margins have not kept pace with volume. Non-GAAP gross margin fell to 28.7% even as revenue more than doubled, compared with 31.0% a year earlier. Guidance of 29.5% to 31% for the fourth quarter implies some recovery as new lines absorb fixed costs. The release does not report average selling prices or product-level margins, so it does not show how much of the compression comes from pricing and how much from ramp costs. The balance sheet shows the cost of building capacity ahead of revenue. Property, plant and equipment nearly tripled in nine months, and inventories and payables both rose sharply. Equity funding raised additional paid-in capital by about $1.5 billion over the same period. The open questions for the transceiver market are whether AOI can hold the end-2026 500,000-unit equipment milestone, how the 800G-to-1.6T mix develops as 1.6T volumes begin, and whether the new hyperscale agreement widens AOI’s customer base or deepens its existing concentration.

AOI’s results point to accelerating demand for high-bandwidth optical connectivity and a substantial increase in the production scale needed to serve it. The next measure of progress will be how quickly installed equipment becomes sustained output, particularly as the company works through the infrastructure requirements of its U.S. expansion.

Power & SitesUnited States

ODMs confident Democratic midterm win won't derail AI data centers

Credited to DigiTimes$ · digitimes.com11h ago

Useful

The Democratic Party's sweeping victory in the US midterm elections has raised concerns that data-center construction and the broader AI supply chain could slow. However, supply-chain sources said that while opposition to data centers has intensified, AI development is unlikely…

View the article · $DigiTimes

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Power & Sites · United States

Evergy signs a 1.4 GW letter of intent with Digital Realty

Credited to Rackline · Priya Nair · sec.gov · 22h ago

Evergy has signed a letter of intent with Digital Realty for a 1.4-gigawatt expansion, the Kansas City, Mo., utility said on Nov. 5 with its third-quarter results. It also signed amendments to three existing electric service agreements that it expects to add about 250 megawatts of load.

Evergy's release lists the letter separately from the three signed amendments and gives no site, start date or state for the project. The quarterly report Evergy filed the same day does not mention Digital Realty or the letter at all.

Evergy's utilities have already signed electric service agreements this year with several large customers to serve data centers with a projected peak steady-state load of about 2,600 megawatts. The agreements cover three new projects and the expansion of two projects announced earlier.

Service under those agreements has started or is due to start between 2026 and 2028. That timing includes an optional transition period of up to five years, during which a customer's load can ramp up.

The signed contracts carry minimum payments. At Sept. 30, Evergy reported $8.9bn of remaining contractual minimum consideration from large-load customers, with a weighted average remaining term of 15 years. The figure covers customers, mainly large loads expected to exceed 75 megawatts, whose contracts run longer than a year.

The minimums typically equal 80% of a customer's expected annual capacity demand, according to the filing. They exclude charges that vary with usage, such as fuel cost recovery, and assume today's large-load rates stay in place.

Evergy Kansas Central accounts for more than half of the total, with $4.8bn of minimums over a weighted 14 years. Evergy Metro reported $2.3bn over 16 years. Other parts of the group account for about $1.8bn* more.

Evergy Kansas Central holds more than half of Evergy's large-load minimums

Remaining contractual minimum payments from large-load customers and weighted average remaining term, at Sept. 30, 2026

Table: Evergy has $8.9bn of large-load minimum payments over a weighted 15 years; Evergy Kansas Central $4.8bn over 14 years, Evergy Metro $2.3bn over 16 years.
Utility	Minimum payments ($bn)	Weighted remaining term (years)
Evergy Kansas Central	5	14
Evergy Metro	2	16
Evergy (group total)	9	15

Source: Sources: Evergy Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, Note 2Minimums typically equal 80% of expected annual capacity demand at current rates and exclude fuel and other usage charges. Subsidiary rows do not add to the total; the 10-Q shows only these three lines.

The 10-Q does not mention the three amendments announced on Nov. 5, and neither document says whether their 250 megawatts are already counted in the 2,600-megawatt total.

Digital Realty said in June that it had bought about 1,440 acres at Astra Enterprise Park near Kansas City and signed an energy service agreement with the local utility for 600 megawatts by early 2028, rising to 2 gigawatts at full delivery. Its third-quarter 10-Q puts the land price at $482m, paid in cash and operating partnership units. Evergy's Nov. 5 disclosures do not say whether the new expansion is on that land.

In November 2025 the Kansas Corporation Commission approved Evergy's large-load rate plan for new or expanding customers of 75 megawatts or more. Customers sign for at least 12 years, plus a ramp of up to five, and pay a monthly minimum based on 80% of contract demand whatever they use. They post collateral equal to two years of minimum bills, and a customer that leaves early owes every minimum bill left on the contract.

In October, Evergy Kansas Central and Evergy Metro asked the commission to approve a Customer Affordability Enhancement Plan that would sit on top of the existing large-load plan and apply to newly signed customers. The utilities say it would further separate the costs that future large loads are responsible for. They asked for expedited treatment and an order in February 2027.

Evergy is also lining up new generation. In September it asked Kansas regulators to approve the ratemaking treatment for a planned portfolio led by Buchanan Bluffs Energy Center Unit 1, a 710-megawatt combined-cycle gas plant in Buchanan County, Mo., due in 2031, plus solar and battery projects in Labette and Barber counties in Kansas. It expects a decision in April 2027.

Evergy earned $2.59 a share in the third quarter, up from $2.03 a year earlier, and raised its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $4.35 to $4.50 a share from $4.14 to $4.34. The release lists higher large-customer revenue among the drivers of the quarter, and the 10-Q says a data-center customer began taking service this year.

* Rackline estimate, calculated from the $8.9bn total for Evergy less the $4.8bn for Evergy Kansas Central and $2.3bn for Evergy Metro in Evergy's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026.

Updated to correct wording.