Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) Short Interest Down 25.9% in February

Key Points

• Short interest down 25.9% in February to 3,698,624 shares (about 12.1% of shares sold short) with a short‑interest ratio of roughly 2.5 days.
• Axcelis beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $1.49 (vs. $1.12 expected) and revenue of $238.3M (vs. $215.0M expected), though revenue was down 5.6% year‑over‑year and Q1 FY26 guidance is $0.71 EPS.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—two Buys, two Holds and two Sells—resulting in an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $101.50.

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 3,698,624 shares, a decline of 25.9% from the February 12th total of 4,989,876 shares. Approximately 12.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,457,097 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,457,097 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 12.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACLS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Axcelis Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Axcelis Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. B. Riley Financial reduced their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $101.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jorge Titinger sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,160. This represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axcelis Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Axcelis Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Axcelis Technologies Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of ACLS opened at $83.19 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $88.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.06. The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a current ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 3.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Axcelis Technologies has a twelve month low of $40.40 and a twelve month high of $102.93.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.37. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 14.33%.The company had revenue of $238.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $215.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Axcelis Technologies's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Axcelis Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.710-0.710 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Axcelis Technologies Company Profile

Axcelis Technologies, Inc is a leading developer and manufacturer of ion implantation and cleaning equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. The company specializes in high-current, medium-current and high-energy ion implantation systems, which are critical for introducing precisely controlled dopants into silicon wafers. Axcelis also offers plasma-based cleaning and dry strip tools that support advanced process nodes in logic, memory and power device manufacturing.

The company's product portfolio encompasses single-wafer and multi-wafer cluster tools designed to deliver high throughput, accuracy and uniformity for semiconductor process steps.

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