AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Up 14.6% – Here’s What Happened

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s stock price was up 14.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.66 and last traded at $21.24. Approximately 3,916,159 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 7,922,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AXTI. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley downgraded AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $9.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 17th. Finally, Wedbush set a $7.00 target price on shares of AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AXT currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

AXT Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.10 and a beta of 1.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $16.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.78.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $27.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 11.19% and a negative net margin of 25.22%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total value of $421,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total transaction of $30,587.17. Following the sale, the director directly owned 118,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $999,738.75. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 246,767 shares of company stock worth $2,637,808. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at about $275,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of AXT by 12.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AXT by 2,333,600.0% during the third quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 23,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 23,336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Company Profile

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.