AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $122.77, but opened at $129.33. AXT shares last traded at $122.36, with a volume of 1,261,396 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXTI. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of AXT from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Stock Down 10.8%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $85.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.84. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -332.76 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share 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 firm 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 Inc will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 21.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total transaction of $1,938,082.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,275,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,337,520.64. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. Corporate insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in AXT by 2.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 8,039 shares during the period. Creative Planning purchased a new position in AXT during the second quarter valued at approximately $86,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in AXT during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in AXT during the third quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in AXT during the third quarter valued at approximately $145,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.