Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Axcelis hit a new 52‑week high intraday of $170.05 and last traded at $158.04, up from a prior close of $139.70 on volume of about 198,464 shares.
• The company beat estimates with quarterly EPS of $1.49 (vs. $1.12 est.) and revenue of $238.33M (vs. $215.04M), though revenue was down 5.6% year‑over‑year and Q1 2026 EPS guidance was set at 0.71.
• Analysts have a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $116.25, while insiders have sold modestly and institutional investors have substantially increased holdings, leaving roughly 90% of shares owned by institutions.

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $170.05 and last traded at $158.0440, with a volume of 198464 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $139.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACLS has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Axcelis Technologies from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Axcelis Technologies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded Axcelis Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.25.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.64, a PEG ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $101.98 and a 200-day moving average of $91.57. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.37. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 14.33% and a return on equity of 13.73%. The firm had revenue of $238.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $215.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. Axcelis Technologies's revenue for the quarter 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. Research analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, CEO Russell Low sold 1,244 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.86, for a total transaction of $172,741.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 131,038 shares in the company, valued at $18,195,936.68. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jorge Titinger sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,488 shares of company stock worth $369,752. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axcelis Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 85.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,807,404 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $145,207,000 after purchasing an additional 835,242 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,747,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 176.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,735 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $37,761,000 after purchasing an additional 246,939 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 10,368.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 243,503 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $19,563,000 after purchasing an additional 241,177 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 142.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 266,015 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $22,909,000 after purchasing an additional 156,387 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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