AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) Short Interest Up 36.4% in February

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,081,351 shares, a growth of 36.4% from the January 29th total of 4,457,894 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,472,699 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days. Approximately 12.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Approximately 12.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 7,472,699 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on AXTI shares. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

AXT Stock Performance

Shares of AXT stock opened at $37.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -78.96 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.99 and a 200-day moving average of $12.23. AXT has a 52-week low of $1.13 and a 52-week high of $41.19.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative return on equity of 10.59% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The company had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.24 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total transaction of $371,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 132,744 shares in the company, valued at $1,969,920.96. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,495,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 85,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,101,000 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in AXT in the third quarter worth $112,000. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in AXT by 2.8% during the second quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 860,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 23,467 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AXT by 216.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 269,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,405,000 after buying an additional 184,309 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AXT by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 492,330 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,054,000 after buying an additional 44,632 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in AXT by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 205,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 58,542 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.