AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 1,358,092 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 0% from the previous session’s volume of 1,355,473 shares.The stock last traded at $16.64 and had previously closed at $15.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AXTI. Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of AXT from $4.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush set a $7.00 price objective on AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXT has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

AXT Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $903.66 million, a PE ratio of -31.44 and a beta of 1.93. The business’s 50 day moving average is $11.53 and its 200-day moving average is $6.04.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $27.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 25.22% and a negative return on equity of 11.19%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total transaction of $371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 132,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,969,920.96. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total value of $421,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. This represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 326,767 shares of company stock worth $3,329,808 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AXT by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 530,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 227,333 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its stake in AXT by 100.0% in the second quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 39,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 19,575 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC boosted its stake in AXT by 2.8% in the second quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 860,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 23,467 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AXT by 39.7% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 205,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 58,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the third quarter worth about $136,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AXT Company Profile

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.