Company: AAOI
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-019126
Chunk: 8

Company: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 8
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 to use to instruct them on how to vote your shares. Check the instructions provided by your bank, broker or other holder of record to see which options are available to you. Since you are not the stockholder of record, you may not vote your shares in person at the Special Meeting unless you request and obtain a valid proxy from your bank, broker or other nominee.

Votes submitted by telephone or via the Internet must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on [ ], 2025. Submitting your proxy by telephone or via the Internet will not affect your right to vote in person should you decide to attend the Special Meeting in person.

If you are a stockholder of record, you may revoke your proxy and/or change your vote at any time before the polls close at the Special Meeting by returning a later-dated proxy card, by voting again by Internet or telephone as more fully detailed on your proxy card, by delivering written instructions to the Corporate Secretary at our principal executive offices before the Special Meeting, or by voting again at the Special Meeting. Attendance at the Special Meeting will not in and of itself cause your previously voted proxy to be revoked unless you specifically so request or vote again at the Special Meeting. If your shares are held in an account at a bank, brokerage firm or other nominee, you may change your vote by submitting new voting instructions to your bank, brokerage firm or other nominee or if you have obtained a legal proxy from your bank, brokerage firm or other nominee giving you the right to vote your shares, by attending the Special Meeting and voting in person.

#### Electronic Availability of Proxy Statement
As permitted by SEC rules, we are making this Proxy Statement available to stockholders electronically via the Internet at www.proxyvote.com. We are constantly focused on improving the ways people connect with

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information, and believe that providing our proxy materials over the internet increases the ease and ability of our stockholders to connect with the information they need while reducing the environmental impact of our Special Meeting.

#### Solicitation of Proxies
We will bear the cost of soliciting proxies. We have engaged Alliance Advisors, LLC (“Alliance Advisors”) to assist in the solicitation of proxies for the Special Meeting and have agreed to pay Alliance Advisors a fee of $17,000. We will also reimburse Alliance Advisors for reasonable and customary out-of-pocket expenses. In addition, we will request banks, brokers and other nominees holding shares of our common stock beneficially owned by others to obtain