AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• AXT shares gapped down before the open, moving from a $52.84 close to a $49.37 open and last trading at $42.81 on heavy volume, a decline of about 20.8%.
• The company posted an earnings miss (EPS $(0.05) vs. $(0.04) est., revenue $23.04M vs. $24.24M est.), with negative margins and a consensus analyst rating of Hold and a $22.80 price target.
• Significant insider selling has occurred recently—CEO Morris Young sold 159,536 shares (~$6.91M) and insiders sold 502,278 shares (~$21.2M) over three months—leaving insiders with 8.8% ownership.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $52.84, but opened at $49.37. AXT shares last traded at $42.81, with a volume of 7,005,069 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AXTI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded AXT from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut AXT from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AXT presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.80.

AXT Stock Down 20.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -87.59 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.65 and a 200-day moving average of $20.58.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The firm had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. Sell-side analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In related news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total transaction of $6,911,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,482,038 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $107,521,886.16. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total value of $706,950.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 123,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,825,833.56. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754 in the last three months. Insiders own 8.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company's stock.

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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