Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Axcelis from a "strong sell" to a "hold" and the stock's consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $116.25 (3 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell).
• Axcelis beat the quarter—reporting EPS of $1.49 versus $1.12 expected and revenue of $238.33M versus $215.04M—and set Q1 2026 guidance at 0.71 EPS.
• Insiders have recently sold shares (Director Jorge Titinger sold 1,000 at $80; CEO Russell Low sold 1,244 at $94.06), while institutional investors own about 89.98% of the company, with Goldman Sachs increasing its stake to 635,393 shares.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ACLS. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axcelis Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised shares of Axcelis Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.25.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

Axcelis Technologies stock opened at $133.19 on Monday. Axcelis Technologies has a 12-month low of $44.08 and a 12-month high of $137.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 15.66 and a beta of 1.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $94.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.77 and a quick ratio of 3.11.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.37. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 14.33% and a return on equity of 13.73%. The business had revenue of $238.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $215.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Axcelis Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.710-0.710 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, Director Jorge Titinger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $518,160. This trade represents a 13.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Russell Low sold 1,244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total transaction of $117,010.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,282 shares in the company, valued at $12,442,444.92. The trade was a 0.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ACLS. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 3.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 117,566 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,838,000 after buying an additional 4,324 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 4.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 35,717 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,774,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,396 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 7.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 635,393 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $31,560,000 after buying an additional 44,275 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 1.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,756 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,912,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company's stock.

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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