Sifting through countless of stocks in the Communications Equipment industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of fiber-optic networking products in the United States, Taiwan, and China. The company offers optical modules, optical filters, lasers, laser components, subassemblies, transmitters and transceivers, turn-key equipment, headend, node, and distribution equipment, as well as amplifiers. It sells its products to internet data center operators, cable television, telecom equipment manufacturers, fiber-to-the-home, and internet service providers through its direct and indirect sales channels. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas.

Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides public safety, government, defense, and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and the implementation and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, including defense, public safety, and enterprise customers who operate private communications systems and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce. This segment also provides mission critical networks, and video security and access control technologies, including two-way portable and vehicle-mounted radios, video cameras, and accessories; communications network core and central processing software, base stations, consoles, and repeaters; and video analytics, network video management hardware and software, and access control solutions. The Software and Services segment offers public safety and enterprise command center, unified communications applications, mobile video equipment, and video software solutions; repair, technical support, and maintenance services; and monitoring, software updates, and cybersecurity services to government, public safety, and commercial communications networks. It serves hospitality; manufacturing; military and defence; police; air transportation; fire and rescue; stadium; emergency medical services; mining; oil and gas; transportation and logistics; utilities; education; retail; and healthcare industries. The company was formerly known as Motorola, Inc. and changed its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. in January 2011. Motorola Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Latest Communications Equipment and Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions, Inc. Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. had a $7.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Communications Equipment median of $376.1 million. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.’s stock is up 170.6% in 2026, down 5.8% in the previous five trading days and up 309.02% in the past year.

Currently, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. does not have a price-earnings ratio. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $507.0 million with a -8.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 51.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.888 per share for the current fiscal year. Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of July 31, 2026, Motorola Solutions, Inc. had a $72.3 billion market cap, putting it in the 95th percentile of all stocks. Motorola Solutions, Inc.’s stock is up 13.7% in 2026, up 4.3% in the previous five trading days and down 0.07% in the past year.

Currently, Motorola Solutions, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 35.1. Motorola Solutions, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $11.9 billion with a 17.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $16.977 per share for the current fiscal year. Motorola Solutions, Inc. currently has a 1.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc. Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.	AAOI	F
Motorola Solutions, Inc.	MSI	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a Value Score of 2, which is Ultra Expensive. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a Value Score of 13, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions or Inc. has a high enough value grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolio. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to value.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.	AAOI	D
Motorola Solutions, Inc.	MSI	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a Growth Score of 27, which is Weak. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a Growth Score of 100, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Motorola Solutions, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Motorola Solutions, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.	AAOI	F
Motorola Solutions, Inc.	MSI	B

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. has a Quality Score of 16, which is Very Weak. Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a Quality Score of 76, which is Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Motorola Solutions, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Motorola Solutions, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Applied Optoelectronics, Inc.. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Motorola Solutions, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc. Grades

In addition to Value, Growth and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Estimate Revisions.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 2, Growth Score of 27 and Quality Score of 16.

Motorola Solutions, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 13, Growth Score of 100 and Quality Score of 76.

Comparing Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., Motorola Solutions and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.