AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading 18.9% Higher – Here’s Why

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price shot up 18.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $23.70 and last traded at $23.9760. 4,609,751 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 8,106,183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush set a $7.00 target price on shares of AXT and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated 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 in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.50.

AXT Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.67 and a beta of 1.94.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.08. AXT had a negative return on equity of 11.19% and a negative net margin of 25.22%.The business had revenue of $27.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.85 million. Equities analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In related news, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total value of $30,587.17. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 118,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,738.75. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. This represents a 1.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock worth $3,329,808. 8.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the second quarter worth $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Atlas Brown Inc. grew its position in AXT by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 39,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 19,575 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised 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 valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.