AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $97.18, but opened at $107.33. AXT shares last traded at $113.3050, with a volume of 3,370,950 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AXTI shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AXT from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush increased their price target on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $125.00 price objective on AXT in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.80.

AXT Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of -300.12 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $94.46 and its 200-day moving average is $51.44.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. AXT had a negative net margin of 14.69% and a negative return on equity of 5.71%. The company had revenue of $26.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.22 million. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AXT Inc will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AXT

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 123,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total transaction of $14,007,701.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,149,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,606,574.89. This trade represents a 5.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 13,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total value of $1,245,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 56,447 shares in the company, valued at $5,405,929.19. This represents a 18.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 237,131 shares of company stock valued at $26,152,036 over the last quarter. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

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