AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Falls 16% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• AXT shares fell 16% Thursday, closing around $39.93 after trading as low as $40.42; volume was about 2.5 million shares, 75% below its average.
• AXT beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.41 versus $0.31 expected and revenue of $73.41 million versus $66 million expected. Northland Securities also raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings forecasts.
• Analyst views remain mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with a $77.80 price target, despite recent upgrades and downgrades.

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) dropped 16% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $40.42 and last traded at $39.9320. Approximately 2,505,977 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 10,164,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.54.

More AXT News

Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northland Securities raised its FY2026 EPS forecast to $1.15 from $0.81 and its FY2027 estimate to $2.29 from $2.03. It also lifted forecasts for each quarter from Q4 2026 through Q4 2027, signaling a stronger earnings outlook. Northland Securities estimates
• Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha article reports record Q3 revenue and a positive forward outlook, but its title also notes a rating downgrade—potentially a counterweight to the improved earnings forecasts. The provided article details do not specify the analyst or revised rating. Seeking Alpha article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AXTI shares. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of AXT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised AXT from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded AXT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.80.

AXT Trading Down 20.0%

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.46. The company has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.07 and a beta of 2.01.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $66.00 million. AXT had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 5.21%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in AXT during the second quarter worth about $365,607,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in AXT in the second quarter valued at about $46,062,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the second quarter worth about $25,911,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 291,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rokos Capital Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the first quarter worth about $18,842,000. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company's stock.

About AXT

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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