AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $134.00 and last traded at $117.2380, with a volume of 1923015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AXT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

AXT Trading Down 5.7%

The company has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -370.89 and a beta of 1.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $68.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.38.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. AXT had a negative return on equity of 6.11% and a negative net margin of 14.69%.The business had revenue of $26.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.22 million. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total value of $6,911,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,482,038 shares in the company, valued at $107,521,886.16. This trade represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total transaction of $706,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 123,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,825,833.56. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. 5.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in AXT by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the first quarter worth $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in AXT during the first quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new position in AXT during the first quarter valued at $88,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently 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.