Leonard Leblanc Sells 2,000 Shares of AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) Director Leonard Leblanc sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.31, for a total transaction of $176,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 117,129 shares in the company, valued at $10,343,661.99. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

AXT Trading Down 10.8%

AXTI traded down $8.88 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.43. 15,148,270 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,545,666. AXT Inc has a 1 year low of $2.20 and a 1 year high of $143.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,671.50 and a beta of 1.90.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued 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 business had revenue of $47.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in AXT in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in AXT during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key AXT News

Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AXT’s record InP revenue, backlog exceeding $100 million and planned capacity expansion could support a multiyear growth opportunity as AI data centers increase demand for optical components. AXT’s InP Demand Is Surging: Can It Become a Long-Term Growth Driver?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports linked AXT’s gains to tightening indium phosphide supply and new AI-related deals, reinforcing investor expectations that the company may benefit from increased optical-networking demand. Why AXT Is Up 11.6% After Indium Phosphide Supply Tightens Amid New AI Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Tradr launched a first-to-market exchange-traded fund focused on AXT and several other optics and AI-related companies. The additional investment product may improve exposure and trading interest, although its direct effect on AXT’s fundamentals is unclear. Tradr Debuts First-to-Market ETFs on Meta, AXT, Coherent & Lightwave Logic
• Negative Sentiment: AXT has been pressured alongside other optics stocks as investors reassessed AI spending expectations and took profits in companies that had already posted large gains. The sector-wide risk-off move may be weighing on the stock despite its favorable InP outlook. Optics Stocks Drop on Anthropic News
• Negative Sentiment: Director Leonard J. Leblanc disclosed sales totaling 6,000 shares in August, following a 500-share sale in June. The transactions reduced his holdings by about 5.5% cumulatively and may create a modest insider-confidence overhang, although the director still owns more than 113,000 shares. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About AXT

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT’s product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.