AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading Up 12.4% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• AXT stock jumped 12.4% on Friday, trading as high as $129.43 and last at $121.89 on roughly 3.31 million shares — about a 69% drop from its average daily volume.
• Analysts are mixed: the consensus rating is a "Hold" with a consensus price target of $22.80 (2 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell), far below the current trading level.
• Operationally, AXT beat Q1 EPS expectations (-$0.01 vs. -$0.04) and guided Q2 2026 EPS to $0.06–$0.08, while insiders have sold significant stock (502,278 shares worth $21.2M over 90 days) and institutions own about 49.5% of shares.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 12.4% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $129.43 and last traded at $121.8880. Approximately 3,312,074 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 10,543,777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AXTI shares. Craig Hallum restated a "buy" rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of AXT from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.80.

AXT Stock Up 0.9%

The business's fifty day moving average is $60.14 and its 200-day moving average is $31.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of -353.34 and a beta of 1.75.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AXT news, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $406,170.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 109,526 shares in the company, valued at $5,503,681.50. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 approximately $116,337,520.64. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. 5.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake 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 during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter worth $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter worth $20,187,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 840,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the first quarter worth $39,061,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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