AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 9.1% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• AXT shares fell 9.1% after insider selling, with the stock trading as low as $101.78 and volume well below its daily average.
• Director Jesse Chen sold multiple blocks of stock in June, including 13,000 shares for about $1.25 million and earlier sales of 9,000 and 1,500 shares.
• Analysts are mixed on AXT, with a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $43.80, while the company recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates.

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) dropped 9.1% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $101.78 and last traded at $100.7040. Approximately 2,253,465 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 10,227,369 shares. The stock had previously closed at $110.74.

Specifically, Director Jesse Chen sold 13,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total transaction of $1,245,010.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 56,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,405,929.19. This represents a 18.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.73, for a total value of $780,570.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 69,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,023,138.31. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In other news, Director Jesse Chen sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.30, for a total transaction of $139,950.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 87,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,158,805.10. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings raised AXT from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush upped their target price on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $125.00 target price on AXT in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.80.

AXT Stock Down 9.7%

The company has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -324.81 and a beta of 1.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.65 and a 200-day moving average of $50.86.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. AXT had a negative return on equity of 5.71% and a negative net margin of 14.69%.The company had revenue of $26.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.22 million. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that AXT Inc will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 161.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,505,354 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $85,775,000 after purchasing an additional 930,526 shares during the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter valued at $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter valued at $20,187,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 1,314.6% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $14,790,000 after purchasing an additional 840,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 410,181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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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