AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $73.67, but opened at $76.64. AXT shares last traded at $79.92, with a volume of 2,319,225 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXTI shares. B. Riley Financial dropped their price target on AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Northland Securities set a $125.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

AXT Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,971.00 and a beta of 1.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.51.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $47.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 million. AXT had a return on equity of 0.96% and a net margin of 3.23%.AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In related news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AXT during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in AXT in the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in AXT during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the first quarter worth $88,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About AXT

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used to produce high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its product portfolio includes gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with related materials and services supporting semiconductor manufacturing.

The company’s substrates are used in applications such as wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networking, optical sensing, laser devices, aerospace and defense systems, and solar cells.