AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Down 10% - What's Next?

Key Points

• AXT shares fell 10% to about $52.13 in heavy trading, down from the previous close of $57.91 and well below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $77 price target, with recent targets ranging from $52 to $90.
• AXT exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 in earnings per share versus a $0.07 estimate and revenue of $47.59 million versus $34.08 million expected; institutional investors own about 49.5% of the company.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) shares dropped 10% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $52.32 and last traded at $52.1310. Approximately 5,195,099 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 10,099,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AXTI shares. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut AXT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded AXT from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.00.

AXT Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,605.00 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.00 and a 200 day moving average of $76.22.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.12. AXT had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 0.96%. The business had revenue of $47.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.08 million. AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $384,280.00. Following the sale, the director owned 113,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in AXT during the third quarter worth $834,000. Dupree Financial Group LLC raised its position in AXT by 2.9% during the third quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 14,349 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 3,881.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 79.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of AXT by 1,347.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 312,999 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $22,561,000 after purchasing an additional 291,368 shares during the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc NASDAQ: AXTI develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrate materials used in high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its primary products include gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, which serve as the foundation for semiconductor components.

The company's substrates are used in applications such as fiber-optic communications, data-center and telecommunications equipment, wireless infrastructure, radio-frequency devices, lasers, light-emitting diodes, and certain solar cells.

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