B. Riley Financial Cuts AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Price Target to $52.00

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial lowered AXT’s price target to $52 from $73 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying approximately 8.6% upside from the stock’s current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and average price target of $50. AXT recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates but continues to report negative net margins and return on equity.
• Insiders sold heavily in the latest quarter, including CEO Morris S. Young, who sold shares worth about $14 million; institutional ownership stands at 49.52%.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by B. Riley Financial from $73.00 to $52.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. B. Riley Financial's target price suggests a potential upside of 8.60% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Northland Securities set a $125.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Two research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $50.00.

AXT Stock Up 1.4%

AXTI stock opened at $47.88 on Tuesday. AXT has a twelve month low of $1.85 and a twelve month high of $143.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.37. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -154.45 and a beta of 1.86.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 14.69% and a negative return on equity of 5.71%. The business had revenue of $26.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.22 million. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AXT will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 123,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total transaction of $14,007,701.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,149,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $243,606,574.89. This trade represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 8,333 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.17, for a total transaction of $926,379.61. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 65,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,244,393.05. This trade represents a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 251,636 shares of company stock valued at $27,789,677 in the last quarter. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in AXT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,187,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 930,526 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Ariose Capital Management Ltd acquired a new stake in AXT during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,061,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by 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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