AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) Short Interest Up 15.4% in April

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,289,731 shares, an increase of 15.4% from the March 31st total of 7,181,514 shares. Approximately 15.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 14,515,198 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $1,938,082.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,275,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,337,520.64. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $406,170.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 109,526 shares in the company, valued at $5,503,681.50. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. Corporate insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AXT by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $86,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of AXT in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at $112,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in AXT during the third quarter worth $145,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXTI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

Key AXT News

Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raised Q2 guidance well above Street — AXT set Q2 FY26 EPS guidance of $0.060–0.080 versus a consensus loss (~-$0.01) and revenue guidance of $34.0M vs. a ~$30.3M consensus, signaling stronger demand and margin improvement ahead.
• Positive Sentiment: Completed a large capital raise to fund expansion — Management said it completed a $632.5M capital raise to support Tongmei’s indium phosphide capacity expansion and R&D investment, improving the company’s ability to execute growth plans. AXT, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: small beat on EPS and revenue — Q1 revenue of ~$26.9M (+39% YoY) and EPS of ($0.01) topped expectations (consensus ~($0.04)), showing better-than-expected quarter performance and supporting the upbeat guidance. AXT Q1 Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Underwritten equity offering / dilution — Recent filings disclosed an underwritten offering (≈8.56M shares at $64.25, ~ $550M) to raise capital; while funding supports growth, it also introduces dilution risk that investors will monitor. AXT shares jump as investors position ahead of Q1 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Wide analyst spread on targets — Recent analyst price targets vary sharply (e.g., Wedbush $80 vs. B. Riley $21), reflecting disagreement on execution and valuation; that divergence can amplify volatility as the story evolves.
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual put buying — There was a significant uptick in put option purchases (26,242 puts, ~+53% vs. average), indicating some traders positioned for near-term downside or used hedges around the earnings event.
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy insider selling and balance-sheet items flagged — Public data show many insider sales in recent months and Quiver-highlighted items (Q1 operating loss, higher liabilities). These raise governance/conviction concerns for some investors. AXT Inc (AXTI) Stock Falls on Q1 2026 Earnings

AXT Trading Up 11.5%

AXT stock opened at $79.22 on Friday. AXT has a 1-year low of $1.23 and a 1-year high of $90.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.83. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -165.04 and a beta of 1.51.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $26.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.22 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.01 EPS for the current year.

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.