Applied Optoelectronics (AOI) expects cable-related revenues to accelerate in 2026 and exceed projections. In its cable tech update, AOI reported Q1 2026 cable tech revenues rose 4% to $66.8 million versus the year-ago quarter, and it said the segment s performance landed at the higher end of an expected $61 million to $67 million range.
AOI s commentary is tied to Charter Communications hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) upgrade plans, including a multi-phased effort to enable multi-gigabit downstream speeds and 1-Gig upstream speeds, with Charter planning to upgrade about 35% of its HFC plant to DOCSIS 4.0. Charter also plans to accelerate DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades in the footprint it will gain from the pending Cox Communications merger. AOI cited Q1 results up 24% versus the prior quarter, and pointed to increased demand for products such as 1.8GHz amps used ahead of DOCSIS 4.0 activity , as the Raymond James research note chain framed the idea that the amps offer a degree of future-proofing.
On strategy and product scope, AOI launched a plan to sell amps, nodes, and monitoring software directly to cable operators under its own branding, after previously building cable products for companies such as Cisco as an original design manufacturer (ODM). AOI said it is entering the cable node business with products powered by Broadcom s unified DOCSIS 4.0 silicon, putting it in competition with suppliers including CommScope, Harmonic, Vecima Networks and Technetix. In the Raymond James research note cited by the coverage, AOI s cable revenues for full year 2026 are on pace for $320 million, up from a prior expectation of $300 million, while the analyst said AOI remains concentrated with Charter but should diversify and stay near current levels for some time.