Lin Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) 4

What Happened
Lin Chih‑Hsiang (Thompson), President, CEO and director of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI), had a total of 21,672 shares disposed on January 22, 2026 as tax-withholding for vested restricted stock units (RSUs). The transactions were recorded as disposals under transaction code F (payment of exercise price or tax liability) at $38.38 per share, for a combined value of approximately $831,770. These were share surrenders to the company to satisfy withholding obligations — not open-market sales.

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-01-22; Form 4 filed 2026-01-26 (filed within the normal reporting window).
• Price: $38.38 per share for all lots.
• Individual lots reported:
  • 6,230 shares surrendered — $239,107 (F1)
  • 9,932 shares surrendered — $381,190 (F2)
  • 2,646 shares surrendered — $101,553 (F3)
  • 2,864 shares surrendered — $109,920 (F4)
• Total surrendered: 21,672 shares for ~$831,770.
• Shares owned after transaction: not specified in the provided excerpt of the filing (see the full Form 4 for "Amount of Securities Owned Following Reported Transaction").
• Footnotes: F1–F4 indicate the shares were withheld to satisfy taxes on RSU awards granted 6/27/2022, 6/26/2023, 4/29/2024, and 4/11/2025, respectively.
• Transaction type: tax-withholding (F) — this is a routine cashless withholding/net issuance, not a market sale.

Context
Surrendering shares to cover taxes on vested RSUs is a common, administrative action and generally doesn't reflect a deliberate open-market sale or a direct signal about the insider's view of the stock. For investors tracking insider activity, purchases are typically more informative than withholding-related disposals. Check the full Form 4 for the insider’s post-transaction holdings and any other related disclosures.