AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Trading Down 5.2% – Here’s What Happened

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price dropped 5.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $19.89 and last traded at $20.2890. Approximately 3,098,348 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 8,999,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AXTI. Wedbush set a $7.00 target price on AXT and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. B. Riley lowered shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $9.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

AXT Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $15.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.49 and a beta of 1.94.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.08. AXT had a negative net margin of 25.22% and a negative return on equity of 11.19%. The firm had revenue of $27.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.85 million. As a group, analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AXT

In other AXT news, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total value of $30,587.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 118,875 shares in the company, valued at $999,738.75. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $894,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 207,744 shares in the company, valued at $1,857,231.36. This trade represents a 32.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock valued at $3,329,808. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. White Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of AXT by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 860,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 23,467 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in AXT during the third quarter worth approximately $136,000. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in AXT by 31.9% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 28,800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 6,970 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by 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.