AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading Down 6.2% – What’s Next?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price traded down 6.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $16.53 and last traded at $16.6990. 4,894,047 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 8,354,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AXTI shares. Wall Street Zen cut AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXT has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

AXT Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.36. The stock has a market cap of $950.71 million, a P/E ratio of -33.08 and a beta of 1.94.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $27.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 80,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.65, for a total transaction of $692,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,439,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,101,588.50. This trade represents a 3.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total value of $30,587.17. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 118,875 shares in the company, valued at $999,738.75. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock worth $3,329,808 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in AXT by 2,404.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 574,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,398,000 after acquiring an additional 551,876 shares during the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AXT by 339.6% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 405,978 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,823,000 after buying an additional 313,618 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new position in AXT in the third quarter worth approximately $729,000. Destination Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at $458,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of AXT by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 205,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 58,542 shares during the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.