AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Director Sells 4,000 Shares

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

AXT Stock Down 10.8%

Shares of AXTI stock traded down $8.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $73.43. 15,148,270 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,545,666. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,671.50 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.86. AXT Inc has a fifty-two week low of $2.20 and a fifty-two week high of $143.16.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $47.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 million. AXT had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 0.96%. AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting AXT

Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AXT’s record InP revenue, backlog exceeding $100 million and planned capacity expansion could support a multiyear growth opportunity as AI data centers increase demand for optical components. AXT’s InP Demand Is Surging: Can It Become a Long-Term Growth Driver?
• Positive Sentiment: Recent reports linked AXT’s gains to tightening indium phosphide supply and new AI-related deals, reinforcing investor expectations that the company may benefit from increased optical-networking demand. Why AXT Is Up 11.6% After Indium Phosphide Supply Tightens Amid New AI Deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Tradr launched a first-to-market exchange-traded fund focused on AXT and several other optics and AI-related companies. The additional investment product may improve exposure and trading interest, although its direct effect on AXT’s fundamentals is unclear. Tradr Debuts First-to-Market ETFs on Meta, AXT, Coherent & Lightwave Logic
• Negative Sentiment: AXT has been pressured alongside other optics stocks as investors reassessed AI spending expectations and took profits in companies that had already posted large gains. The sector-wide risk-off move may be weighing on the stock despite its favorable InP outlook. Optics Stocks Drop on Anthropic News
• Negative Sentiment: Director Leonard J. Leblanc disclosed sales totaling 6,000 shares in August, following a 500-share sale in June. The transactions reduced his holdings by about 5.5% cumulatively and may create a modest insider-confidence overhang, although the director still owns more than 113,000 shares. SEC Insider Transaction Filing

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the second quarter worth about $365,607,000. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new stake in AXT during the 4th quarter valued at about $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in AXT during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,187,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in AXT by 161.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,505,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $85,775,000 after acquiring an additional 930,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in AXT by 1,314.6% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,790,000 after acquiring an additional 840,650 shares during the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on AXTI shares. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Northland Securities set a $125.00 target price on AXT in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AXT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.00.

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.