Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACLS) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $94.00 to $91.00. The stock had previously closed at $98.50, but opened at $79.28. B. Riley Financial currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Axcelis Technologies shares last traded at $82.0590, with a volume of 2,517,533 shares trading hands.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on ACLS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Axcelis Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gerald M. Blumenstock sold 3,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.46, for a total value of $271,421.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,669,413.06. This represents a 13.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jorge Titinger sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 7,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,395.85. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Axcelis Technologies

Here are the key news stories impacting Axcelis Technologies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat revenue and (non‑GAAP) EPS expectations — revenue of $238.3M topped consensus and non‑GAAP EPS of $1.49 beat estimates, supporting the company’s underlying demand for some product lines. PR Newswire: Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Margins remained strong: GAAP gross margin ~47% and non‑GAAP operating margin ~21%, indicating healthy pricing/GM despite revenue seasonality. PR Newswire: Margins
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials and management commentary are available (call transcript and slide deck) — useful for investors deciding whether the softness is cyclical or structural. Earnings Call Transcript Q4 Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Some published summaries vary on GAAP vs non‑GAAP metrics — PR shows GAAP diluted EPS $1.10 vs non‑GAAP $1.49; investors should check which metric analysts emphasize. PR Newswire: GAAP vs Non‑GAAP
• Negative Sentiment: Management issued soft Q1 2026 guidance (EPS $0.71 vs consensus ~$0.90; revenue guide ~$195M vs consensus ~$204M), which is the primary driver of today’s share weakness — guidance suggests near‑term demand or timing headwinds. MarketBeat: Guidance Details
• Negative Sentiment: B. Riley cut its price target from $94 to $91 and moved to a “neutral” rating, reducing an optimistic analyst voice and likely weighing on investor sentiment. Benzinga: B. Riley PT Cut
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying profitability and cash flow metrics showed signs of pressure (operating profit and net income down year‑over‑year; cash from operations declined), which may raise concerns about near‑term free cash flow. QuiverQuant: Financial Details

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Close Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Axcelis Technologies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Axcelis Technologies Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.95, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 1.77.

Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:ACLS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The semiconductor company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $238.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $215.04 million. Axcelis Technologies had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 15.93%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. Axcelis Technologies has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.710-0.710 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Axcelis Technologies, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Axcelis Technologies Company Profile

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.