AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading Down 5.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) were down 5.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $60.00 and last traded at $60.8680. Approximately 6,131,569 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 9,979,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AXTI shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on shares of AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

AXT Trading Up 1.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -136.47 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.31.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. The firm had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.24 million. On average, analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $406,170.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 109,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,503,681.50. This represents a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $920,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 72,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,346,224. This represents a 21.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. Insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.