AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Falls 10.7% - What's Next?

Key Points

• AXT shares fell 10.7% to about $52.91, with trading volume down 71% from the average session. The stock remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst views are mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $77, though B. Riley cut its target to $52 while UBS and Needham maintained $90 targets.
• AXT recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 in earnings per share versus $0.07 expected and $47.59 million in revenue versus $34.08 million expected. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company, while one director recently sold 4,000 shares.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) traded down 10.7% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $53.47 and last traded at $52.9140. 2,943,116 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 10,089,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXTI has been the topic of several recent research reports. B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on shares of AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report 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 research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of AXT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.00.

AXT Stock Down 13.0%

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $69.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.33. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,578.00 and a beta of 1.86.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value 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 trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 5.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the third quarter worth about $716,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in AXT by 1,831.1% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 68,264 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,284,000 after buying an additional 64,729 shares during the period. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the third quarter worth $42,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at $244,000. Finally, Capstone Capital Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of AXT by 106.7% in the third quarter. Capstone Capital Management Ltd now owns 75,650 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 39,059 shares in the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used as the foundation for various high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its principal products include gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with other specialty materials such as gallium antimonide and indium arsenide.

The company's substrates are used in applications including wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networks, lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, consumer electronics, and aerospace and defense systems.

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