AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 5.2% – Here’s Why

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) fell 5.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $19.89 and last traded at $20.2890. 3,098,348 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 8,999,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on AXTI. B. Riley cut shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wedbush set a $7.00 price objective on AXT and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

AXT Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $15.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.49 and a beta of 1.94.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $27.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 11.19% and a negative net margin of 25.22%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AXT

In other news, Director David C. Chang sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $894,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 207,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,857,231.36. This represents a 32.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total value of $30,587.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 118,875 shares in the company, valued at $999,738.75. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 326,767 shares of company stock worth $3,329,808 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of AXT by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in AXT by 31.9% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 28,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 6,970 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AXT by 2.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in AXT in the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of AXT during the second quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.