AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Jumps 10.4% – What’s Next?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shares rose 10.4% during trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $52.35 and last traded at $53.2050. 2,601,934 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 10,132,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research cut AXT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.80.

AXT Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.33 and a beta of 1.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $65.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.20.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.00 million. AXT had a return on equity of 0.96% and a net margin of 3.23%. Analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.80 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AXT news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the sale, the director owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ariose Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in AXT during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,163,000. Covestor Ltd acquired a new stake in AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $825,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,115,000. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in AXT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,226,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in AXT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $227,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used as the foundation for various high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its principal products include gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with other specialty materials such as gallium antimonide and indium arsenide.

The company’s substrates are used in applications including wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networks, lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, consumer electronics, and aerospace and defense systems.