AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• AXT shares gapped higher, opening at $76.64 versus a prior close of $73.67 and recently trading at $79.92 on volume of about 2.3 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with MarketBeat assigning a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $77; individual targets range from $52 to $125.
• AXT exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 in EPS versus a $0.07 estimate and revenue of $47.59 million versus $34.08 million expected. The company guided for third-quarter EPS of $0.30–$0.32.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $73.67, but opened at $76.64. AXT shares last traded at $79.92, with a volume of 2,319,225 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on AXTI shares. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on AXT in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded AXT from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. B. Riley Financial cut their target price on AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. 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 report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Northland Securities set a $125.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.00.

AXT Price Performance

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $66.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,971.00 and a beta of 1.92.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $34.08 million. AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. Research analysts predict that AXT Inc will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in AXT by 79.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of AXT by 1,347.0% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 312,999 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $22,561,000 after acquiring an additional 291,368 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased 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 worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $152,000. Finally, Amundi bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the second quarter worth $200,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc NASDAQ: AXTI develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used to produce high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its product portfolio includes gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with related materials and services supporting semiconductor manufacturing.

The company's substrates are used in applications such as wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networking, optical sensing, laser devices, aerospace and defense systems, and solar cells.

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