AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Up 8.3% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• AXT shares rose 8.3% to about $62.47 in Wednesday trading, despite volume running 83% below the stock’s average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive, with MarketBeat reporting an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77, although individual targets range from $52 to $125.
• AXT recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 in EPS versus the $0.07 consensus and revenue of $47.59 million versus estimates of $34.08 million. Institutional investors own approximately 49.5% of the company.

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) shot up 8.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $62.80 and last traded at $62.4660. 1,701,051 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 10,220,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AXTI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. B. Riley Financial reduced their price target on shares of AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Northland Securities set a $125.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of AXT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.00.

AXT Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.36. The company has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,168.00 and a beta of 1.92.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $34.08 million. AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $384,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.97% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the second quarter worth $365,607,000. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter worth $22,738,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings 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 valued at $85,775,000 after buying an additional 930,526 shares during the last quarter. Ariose Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 1st quarter valued at $39,061,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,062,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company's stock.

About AXT

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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