Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) Stock Rating Upgraded by B. Riley Financial

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial upgraded Axcelis from "neutral" to a "buy" and set a $150 price objective, implying about a 26% upside from the prior close.
• Axcelis reported a quarterly earnings beat (EPS $1.49 vs. $1.12 expected) and revenue of $238.3M (beat $215.0M) despite revenue being down 5.6% year‑over‑year, and guided Q1 2026 EPS to $0.71.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—MarketBeat's consensus is a "Hold" with a $116.25 target—and institutional ownership is high (~89.98%) while insiders have executed small stock sales recently.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at B. Riley Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The firm currently has a $150.00 price objective on the semiconductor company's stock. B. Riley Financial's price target suggests a potential upside of 26.34% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Axcelis Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Axcelis Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.25.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Performance

Axcelis Technologies stock opened at $118.73 on Monday. Axcelis Technologies has a 52-week low of $43.00 and a 52-week high of $121.84. The company has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.33, a P/E/G ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 4.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.89.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $215.04 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. 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. Analysts predict that Axcelis Technologies will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, CEO Russell Low sold 1,244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.06, for a total value of $117,010.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,282 shares in the company, valued at $12,442,444.92. This trade represents a 0.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jorge Titinger sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 6,477 shares of the company's stock, valued at $518,160. This trade represents a 13.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1,344.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 109,628 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $10,388,000 after acquiring an additional 102,040 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $789,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the third quarter worth approximately $1,347,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new position in Axcelis Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $1,451,000. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $2,177,000. 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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