AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading Up 12.4% – Time to Buy?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price was up 12.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.38 and last traded at $59.7930. Approximately 6,467,773 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 9,818,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AXTI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

AXT Stock Up 12.3%

The company has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of -125.40 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.37.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.24 million. On average, analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $1,938,082.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,275,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,337,520.64. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $406,170.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 109,526 shares in the company, valued at $5,503,681.50. This trade represents a 6.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Oasis Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $164,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of AXT by 1,071.5% in the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,012 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 10,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 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.