Needham Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Axcelis Technologies, Inc. $ACLS

Key Points

• Needham Investment Management LLC initiated a new position in Axcelis Technologies, buying 20,000 shares valued at about $1.61 million in the fourth quarter. Institutional investors remain heavily involved, with hedge funds and other institutions owning nearly 90% of the company.
• Axcelis reported Q1 earnings of $0.72 per share, slightly ahead of estimates, on revenue of $198.96 million, which also topped expectations. The company said Q2 2026 guidance is for EPS of 0.900-.
• The stock has risen sharply, recently trading near its 52-week high after opening at $191.60, while analysts currently rate ACLS as a Hold on average with a consensus price target of $116.25. Insiders have also been selling shares, including the CEO and a director in recent transactions.

Needham Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $1,607,000. Needham Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Axcelis Technologies as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ACLS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Axcelis Technologies by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 117,566 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,838,000 after buying an additional 4,324 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 4.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 35,717 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,774,000 after acquiring an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,396 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 7.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 635,393 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $31,560,000 after purchasing an additional 44,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 1.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 78,756 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,912,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company's stock.

Axcelis Technologies Stock Up 6.4%

ACLS stock opened at $191.60 on Tuesday. Axcelis Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.62 and a 1-year high of $193.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $143.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.59 and a quick ratio of 2.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.69, a P/E/G ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 1.91.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $198.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.03 million. Axcelis Technologies had a net margin of 11.93% and a return on equity of 12.19%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Axcelis Technologies has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.900- EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Axcelis Technologies

In related news, CEO Russell Low sold 7,468 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.75, for a total transaction of $1,170,609.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 123,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,369,597.50. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John T. Kurtzweil sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.79, for a total value of $485,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,990 shares in the company, valued at $4,578,682.10. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 36,039 shares of company stock worth $5,461,394. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ACLS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Axcelis Technologies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered Axcelis Technologies from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, B. Riley Financial upgraded Axcelis Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $116.25.

About Axcelis Technologies

Axcelis Technologies, Inc is a leading developer and manufacturer of ion implantation and cleaning equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. The company specializes in high-current, medium-current and high-energy ion implantation systems, which are critical for introducing precisely controlled dopants into silicon wafers. Axcelis also offers plasma-based cleaning and dry strip tools that support advanced process nodes in logic, memory and power device manufacturing.

The company's product portfolio encompasses single-wafer and multi-wafer cluster tools designed to deliver high throughput, accuracy and uniformity for semiconductor process steps.

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