AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIDR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIDR) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,439,722 shares, a growth of 31.6% from the December 15th total of 2,613,032 shares. Currently, 8.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,476,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,476,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 8.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LIDR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised AEye from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AEye in a report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

AEye Stock Performance

LIDR stock opened at $2.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $2.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.44. AEye has a one year low of $0.49 and a one year high of $6.44. The company has a market capitalization of $90.57 million, a PE ratio of -0.93 and a beta of 2.97.

AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.07. AEye had a negative net margin of 19,320.88% and a negative return on equity of 102.95%. The company had revenue of $0.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.04 million.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Luis Dussan sold 32,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.40, for a total value of $76,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 134,132 shares in the company, valued at $321,916.80. This represents a 19.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AEye

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in AEye by 819.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 676,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 603,241 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AEye in the third quarter valued at $1,026,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in AEye by 657.5% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 307,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 267,075 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AEye by 6.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 108,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in AEye during the third quarter valued at $95,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 21.58% of the company’s stock.

About AEye

AEye, Inc is a technology company specializing in adaptive LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) systems designed to support advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and other sensing applications. Through its intelligent detection and ranging (iDAR) platform, AEye integrates high-performance sensors with real-time data processing software to deliver customizable sensing ‘pipelines’ that prioritize relevant objects and environmental features. This approach enables longer detection ranges, higher resolution imagery and dynamic field-of-view adjustment, making AEye’s offerings well suited for complex driving environments and safety-critical scenarios.

The company’s core product suite centers on solid-state and hybrid LiDAR sensors that can be configured for a variety of end uses, including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, robotics, mapping and defense.