AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Up 12.8% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares rose 12.8% intraday to roughly $71 on Thursday, but the move occurred on well below-average volume (1.6M vs. 9.9M), and analysts' consensus is mixed with an average price target of $22.80 (2 Buy, 2 Hold, 1 Sell).
• Fundamentals are weak: AXT missed quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, posts a negative net margin and negative P/E, and analysts forecast roughly -0.12 EPS for the current year.
• Insiders sold heavily last quarter (502,278 shares, including CEO and director transactions), although institutional ownership is about 49.5% and some funds like Millennium Management have recently increased stakes.

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) rose 12.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $66.28 and last traded at $70.9550. Approximately 1,607,793 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 9,872,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AXTI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Craig Hallum restated a "buy" rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wedbush boosted their price target on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut AXT from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $22.80.

AXT Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.46. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -156.79 and a beta of 1.51.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,939,000. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in AXT by 173.7% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 35,201 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 22,338 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in AXT by 577.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 205,503 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,360,000 after buying an additional 175,158 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company's stock.

AXT Company Profile

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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