AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 7.4% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• AXT shares fell 7.4% to about $59.65, with trading volume roughly 70% below the average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $77, ranging from $52 to $90.
• AXT recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.19 in EPS versus $0.07 expected and revenue of $47.59 million versus $34.08 million forecast.

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 7.4% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $58.32 and last traded at $59.6460. Approximately 2,994,395 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 10,071,590 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in 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 decreased their price objective 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 target price on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of AXT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of AXT from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.00.

AXT Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 3,092.75 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.72.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $47.59 million for 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 value of $384,280.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of AXT in the third quarter worth approximately $227,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AXT by 6.9% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Bosman Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in AXT by 42.8% during the third quarter. Bosman Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,409 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 2,220 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its stake in AXT by 143.1% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AXT during the third quarter valued at approximately $778,000. 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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