AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Director Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 AXT shares at an average price of $96.07, generating $384,280 and reducing his holdings by 3.42% to 113,129 shares.
• AXT shares fell 10.8% to $73.43 amid broader weakness in optics stocks, despite the company exceeding quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and guiding for third-quarter EPS of $0.30–$0.32.
• Institutional investors own 49.52% of AXT, while analyst opinions remain mixed; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $77.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the sale, the director owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

AXT Trading Down 10.8%

Shares of AXTI stock traded down $8.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $73.43. The stock had a trading volume of 15,148,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,545,666. AXT Inc has a 1-year low of $2.20 and a 1-year high of $143.16. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,671.50 and a beta of 1.90. The business's fifty day moving average is $68.30 and its 200-day moving average is $66.86.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $47.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 million. AXT had a return on equity of 0.96% and a net margin of 3.23%.AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AXTI. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in AXT during the fourth quarter valued at $22,738,000. Maytree Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter worth about $11,156,000. California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the 1st quarter worth about $3,670,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the 1st quarter worth about $1,395,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of AXT by 112.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 776,300 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,234,000 after acquiring an additional 410,181 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company's stock.

More AXT News

Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AXT’s record InP revenue, backlog exceeding $100 million and planned capacity expansion could support a multiyear growth opportunity as AI data centers increase demand for optical components. AXT's InP Demand Is Surging: Can It Become a Long-Term Growth Driver?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports linked AXT’s gains to tightening indium phosphide supply and new AI-related deals, reinforcing investor expectations that the company may benefit from increased optical-networking demand. Why AXT Is Up 11.6% After Indium Phosphide Supply Tightens Amid New AI Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Tradr launched a first-to-market exchange-traded fund focused on AXT and several other optics and AI-related companies. The additional investment product may improve exposure and trading interest, although its direct effect on AXT’s fundamentals is unclear. Tradr Debuts First-to-Market ETFs on Meta, AXT, Coherent & Lightwave Logic
• Negative Sentiment: AXT has been pressured alongside other optics stocks as investors reassessed AI spending expectations and took profits in companies that had already posted large gains. The sector-wide risk-off move may be weighing on the stock despite its favorable InP outlook. Optics Stocks Drop on Anthropic News
• Negative Sentiment: Director Leonard J. Leblanc disclosed sales totaling 6,000 shares in August, following a 500-share sale in June. The transactions reduced his holdings by about 5.5% cumulatively and may create a modest insider-confidence overhang, although the director still owns more than 113,000 shares. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Northland Securities set a $125.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. B. Riley Financial cut their price target on AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded AXT from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised AXT from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.00.

About AXT

AXT, Inc NASDAQ: AXTI is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT's product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.

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