AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,730,000 shares, a drop of 10.4% from the March 31st total of 1,930,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

AXT Trading Up 2.4 %

AXTI opened at $2.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.42 million, a PE ratio of -6.91 and a beta of 2.24. AXT has a twelve month low of $1.89 and a twelve month high of $5.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.91.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The semiconductor company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $20.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.62 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 23.59% and a negative return on equity of 7.80%. As a group, analysts predict that AXT will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in AXT during the first quarter worth about $28,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in AXT by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new position in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new position in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXTI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AXT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.38.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.