AXT Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:AXTI)

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 42,750 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 58% compared to the typical volume of 27,116 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $406,170.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 109,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,503,681.50. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $920,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 72,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,346,224. This trade represents a 21.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 467,666 shares of company stock worth $33,695,744. Insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of AXT by 161.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 930,526 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at $20,187,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXT by 1,314.6% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,790,000 after acquiring an additional 840,650 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in AXT by 112.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 776,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,234,000 after purchasing an additional 410,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on AXTI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $125.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.80.

AXT Stock Performance

Shares of AXTI traded down $14.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $91.79. 4,350,790 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,290,873. AXT has a 1-year low of $1.72 and a 1-year high of $143.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of -295.95 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.83.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. AXT had a negative net margin of 14.69% and a negative return on equity of 5.71%. The company had revenue of $26.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.22 million. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AXT will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.