AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 7.4% – What’s Next?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price dropped 7.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $61.51 and last traded at $62.3570. Approximately 5,902,023 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 8,836,484 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.35.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.31 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The business had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other news, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total value of $706,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 123,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,825,833.56. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total value of $6,911,099.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,482,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $107,521,886.16. This trade represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter valued at $2,939,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in AXT by 173.7% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 35,201 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 22,338 shares during the period. SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at $278,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of AXT by 577.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 205,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,360,000 after acquiring an additional 175,158 shares during the period. 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.