AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• AXT's stock gapped up from $45.46 to open at $50.99 and last traded near $56.48 on about 7.72M shares, with the 50‑day SMA ($38.70) well above the 200‑day ($21.14), indicating strong recent momentum and a $3.02B market cap.
• Wall Street is mixed: the consensus rating is Hold (2 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell) with a consensus price target of $22.80, far below the current share price.
• Insiders have been significant net sellers—502,278 shares (~$21.2M) sold over the last 90 days including sales by the CEO and a director—and the company recently missed quarterly EPS (‑$0.05 vs. ‑$0.04 expected) with negative margins.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $45.46, but opened at $50.99. AXT shares last traded at $56.4770, with a volume of 7,718,640 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AXTI. Needham & Company LLC cut AXT from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush raised their price objective on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.80.

AXT Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of -112.80 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.14.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.24 million. Equities research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other news, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $406,170.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 109,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,503,681.50. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $1,938,082.65. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXTI. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of AXT by 2.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 8,039 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new stake in AXT in the second quarter valued at about $86,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in AXT in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in AXT by 12.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in AXT in the third quarter valued at about $112,000. 49.52% of the stock is 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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