AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Down 12.8% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares down 12.8%: AXT plunged to $93.81 intraday from a $107.55 close, with 4.03M shares traded (about 61% below average session volume).
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with a consensus target of $22.80 (five analysts' targets range roughly $8.50–$35).
• Mixed fundamentals and heavy insider selling: AXT beat Q1 estimates (EPS -$0.01 vs -$0.04; revenue $26.92M) and guided Q2 2026 EPS of $0.060–$0.080, but still shows negative net margin/ROE, and insiders sold about 502,278 shares (~$21.2M) last quarter.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) shares traded down 12.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $95.10 and last traded at $93.8140. 4,032,562 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 10,468,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $107.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of AXT from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Craig Hallum restated a "buy" rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price target on AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.80.

AXT Trading Down 2.5%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.89. The company has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of -338.15 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. AXT had a negative return on equity of 6.11% and a negative net margin of 14.69%.The company had revenue of $26.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.22 million. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. Research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $920,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 72,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,346,224. The trade was a 21.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total transaction of $1,938,082.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,275,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,337,520.64. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in AXT by 161.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,505,354 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $85,775,000 after buying an additional 930,526 shares in the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in AXT during the fourth quarter worth about $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in AXT during the fourth quarter worth about $20,187,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in AXT by 1,314.6% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,790,000 after buying an additional 840,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in AXT during the first quarter worth about $39,061,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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