AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIDR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIDR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 4,201,333 shares, an increase of 88.9% from the April 15th total of 2,224,409 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,623,388 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days. Currently, 10.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AEye

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LIDR. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of AEye by 685.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,573,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373,334 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of AEye by 1,836.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,394,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322,472 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AEye in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,460,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of AEye by 819.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 676,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 603,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AEye in the fourth quarter valued at about $504,000. 21.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on LIDR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AEye in a report on Friday, March 27th. Craig Hallum began coverage on AEye in a report on Friday, April 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $3.50 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AEye currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.75.

AEye Trading Down 9.1%

NASDAQ LIDR traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.89. 3,374,794 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,880,285. AEye has a 12 month low of $0.66 and a 12 month high of $6.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $85.71 million, a P/E ratio of -1.67 and a beta of 2.80.

AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.04). AEye had a negative net margin of 12,698.89% and a negative return on equity of 53.27%. The company had revenue of $0.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.28 million.

About AEye

AEye, Inc is a technology company specializing in adaptive LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) systems designed to support advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and other sensing applications. Through its intelligent detection and ranging (iDAR) platform, AEye integrates high-performance sensors with real-time data processing software to deliver customizable sensing ‘pipelines’ that prioritize relevant objects and environmental features. This approach enables longer detection ranges, higher resolution imagery and dynamic field-of-view adjustment, making AEye’s offerings well suited for complex driving environments and safety-critical scenarios.

The company’s core product suite centers on solid-state and hybrid LiDAR sensors that can be configured for a variety of end uses, including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, robotics, mapping and defense.