Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Forecast for AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wedbush has lowered its price target for AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) from $4.25 to $4.10, while maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 106.03% from the current price.
• AXT recently reported an EPS of ($0.20), missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13), and has a negative return on equity of 8.54%.
• Institutional investors own approximately 49.52% of AXT, with notable purchases from firms like Wedbush Securities and Kennedy Capital Management in the fourth quarter.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Wedbush from $4.25 to $4.10 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Wedbush's price target points to a potential upside of 106.03% from the stock's current price.

AXTI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. B. Riley decreased their target price on AXT from $4.50 to $4.30 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised AXT to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXT has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $4.60.

AXT Price Performance

Shares of AXTI traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.99. 103,137 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 519,020. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.74 million, a PE ratio of -4.63 and a beta of 2.07. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $2.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.79. AXT has a 52-week low of $1.13 and a 52-week high of $3.16.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.07). AXT had a negative return on equity of 8.54% and a negative net margin of 19.10%. Equities research analysts predict that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXTI. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AXT by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 35,237 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 14,737 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AXT by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 915,460 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 106,121 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AXT by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 302,964 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 7,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company's stock.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.

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