Company: AAOI
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: PRE 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-019126
Chunk: 27

Company: APPLIED OPTOELECTRONICS, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: PRE 14A
Chunk 27
---
Respectfully submitted,

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE 
 Min-Chu (Mike) Chen, Chairman 
 Che-Wei Lin 
 William H. Yeh

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

### COMPENSATION OF NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

### Compensation Discussion and Analysis
This Compensation Discussion and Analysis (“CD&A”) describes the compensation program for our named executive officers (“NEOs”). For 2024, these individuals were:

•

Chih-Hsiang (Thompson) Lin, our President and Chief Executive Officer (our “CEO”);

•

Stefan J. Murry, our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer (our “CFO”);

•

Hung-Lun (Fred) Chang, our Senior Vice President and North America General Manager;

•

Shu-Hua (Joshua) Yeh, our Senior Vice President and Asia General Manager; and

•

David C. Kuo, our Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer and Secretary.

This CD&A provides an overview of our executive compensation philosophy and objectives and describes the decisions made regarding the material elements of our executive compensation program during 2024. To provide a performance viewpoint, the CD&A also summarizes most recent revenue and total stockholder return (“TSR”) performance.

#### Company Performance
The compensation committee considers Company performance when determining compensation actions. 2024 was an exceptionally strong year in terms of revenue growth and stockholder value creation, and set the foundation for future growth. The chart below summarizes our five-year revenue growth and TSR compared to the 2024 TSR Peer Group.

**Key Aspects of 2024 Executive Compensation: Strong Emphasis on Performance**

**•

Majority of CEO Total Compensation is Performance Based and Other NEO Total Compensation is Variable-Based . As shown in the table below, approximately 83% of our CEO’s 2024 regular annual total target compensation was variable and at-risk, with about 50% being performance-based. Similarly, about 69% of our other NEOs’ annual target compensation was variable, with about 42% being performance-based. These proportions enhance the strong link between pay and performance for our CEO and other NEOs and align the interests of Company leadership with those of the Company and its stockholders.**

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The table below illustrates the mix of fixed base salary, annual incentive and long-term target incentive compensation we provided to our CEO in 2024, and the