AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading Down 5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) fell 5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $63.38 and last traded at $63.56. Approximately 752,006 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 10,365,939 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AXTI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. B. Riley Financial decreased their price objective on shares of AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

AXT Trading Down 9.1%

The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,042.00 and a beta of 1.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.28.

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

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 123,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total value of $14,007,701.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,149,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,606,574.89. The trade was a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 8,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.17, for a total value of $926,379.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,165 shares in the company, valued at $7,244,393.05. This trade represents a 11.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,136 shares of company stock worth $28,395,372. 5.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth $365,607,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of AXT by 7,385.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,821,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $347,513,000 after acquiring an additional 4,756,809 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in AXT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,187,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in AXT by 161.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,505,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $85,775,000 after purchasing an additional 930,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.