Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) Shares Down 7.6% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Axcelis Technologies shares fell 7.6% on Tuesday, trading as low as $178.16 after closing at $191.60 the prior day, with volume running well below average.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: B. Riley upgraded the stock to Buy with a $150 price target, while the consensus view from MarketBeat is still Hold with a $116.25 target.
• Recent earnings were solid, as Axcelis beat Q1 EPS and revenue estimates and reported 3.3% year-over-year revenue growth, but insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) shares dropped 7.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $178.16 and last traded at $177.1030. Approximately 342,818 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 747,599 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on ACLS shares. B. Riley Financial raised Axcelis Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised Axcelis Technologies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Axcelis Technologies from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Three 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.25.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 4.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.62, a P/E/G ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 1.91.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.01. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 12.19% and a net margin of 11.93%.The business had revenue of $198.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Axcelis Technologies has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.900- EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gregory B. Graves sold 3,225 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.61, for a total transaction of $456,692.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,031.53. This trade represents a 37.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Todd Sutton sold 2,574 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.89, for a total transaction of $421,852.86. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 7,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,281,128.13. The trade was a 24.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,039 shares of company stock valued at $5,461,394. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Axcelis Technologies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 22.0% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 665 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 29.7% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 933 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 18.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 957 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Axcelis Technologies

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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