AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $73.78, but opened at $83.05. AXT shares last traded at $77.1050, with a volume of 3,633,305 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Northland Securities set a $125.00 target price on AXT in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on AXT in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded AXT from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXT has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jesse Chen sold 13,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total transaction of $1,245,010.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 56,447 shares in the company, valued at $5,405,929.19. The trade was a 18.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 123,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total transaction of $14,007,701.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,149,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,606,574.89. This represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 251,636 shares of company stock valued at $27,789,677. Company insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter valued at $365,607,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 161.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,505,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $85,775,000 after buying an additional 930,526 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong bought a new position in AXT during the fourth quarter valued at about $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in AXT during the fourth quarter valued at about $20,187,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in AXT by 1,314.6% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,790,000 after acquiring an additional 840,650 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AXT Stock Down 1.3%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,872.50 and a beta of 1.90.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $47.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 million. AXT had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 1.55%. AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About AXT

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT’s product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.