AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• AXT shares fell sharply: The stock opened at $57.51 versus its prior close of $61.59 and last traded near $55.36 on volume of about 3.1 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: AXT has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $77, with targets ranging from $52 to $90. Three analysts rate it Buy, two Hold, and one Sell.
• Recent results exceeded expectations, but valuation remains elevated: AXT reported quarterly EPS of $0.19 on $47.59 million in revenue, beating estimates, while its P/E ratio stood near 2,848 and an insider recently sold 4,000 shares.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $61.59, but opened at $57.51. AXT shares last traded at $55.3630, with a volume of 3,096,789 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

AXT Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $71.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.24. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 2,847.95 and a beta of 1.86.

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

Insider Transactions at AXT

In related news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Dupree Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of AXT by 2.9% during the third quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 14,349 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 worth $228,000 after buying an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake 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 worth $22,561,000 after buying an additional 291,368 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in AXT by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,928 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 1,505 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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