Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $93.22, but opened at $99.00. Axcelis Technologies shares last traded at $98.2790, with a volume of 63,642 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ACLS. Zacks Research lowered shares of Axcelis Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. B. Riley reduced their target price on Axcelis Technologies from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.75.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $85.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a quick ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 4.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.20. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 15.93%.The company had revenue of $213.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. Axcelis Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Axcelis Technologies has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.120-1.120 EPS. Analysts forecast that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gerald M. Blumenstock sold 3,034 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.46, for a total transaction of $271,421.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,669,413.06. This trade represents a 13.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jorge Titinger sold 2,000 shares of Axcelis Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.05, for a total value of $172,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 7,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,395.85. This represents a 21.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,659,463 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $115,648,000 after acquiring an additional 518,968 shares during the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,610,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $157,234,000 after buying an additional 91,788 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 9.6% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 972,162 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $90,243,000 after acquiring an additional 85,407 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 2.1% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 852,296 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $59,397,000 after acquiring an additional 17,230 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Axcelis Technologies by 2.4% during the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 845,911 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,952,000 after acquiring an additional 19,579 shares during the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Axcelis Technologies

Axcelis Technologies, Inc is a leading developer and manufacturer of ion implantation and cleaning equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor chips. The company specializes in high-current, medium-current and high-energy ion implantation systems, which are critical for introducing precisely controlled dopants into silicon wafers. Axcelis also offers plasma-based cleaning and dry strip tools that support advanced process nodes in logic, memory and power device manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio encompasses single-wafer and multi-wafer cluster tools designed to deliver high throughput, accuracy and uniformity for semiconductor process steps.