AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 8.4% – What’s Next?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s stock price dropped 8.4% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $20.10 and last traded at $21.0640. Approximately 5,416,979 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 10,979,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush set a $7.00 price target on AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. B. Riley cut AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

AXT Trading Down 3.3%

The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of -42.77 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.23 and a 200-day moving average of $6.91.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued 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 company had revenue of $27.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.85 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 11.19% and a negative net margin of 25.22%. Research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total transaction of $30,587.17. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 118,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $999,738.75. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total value of $371,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 132,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,969,920.96. This represents a 15.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock valued at $3,329,808. Insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AXTI. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 2.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in AXT by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 39,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 19,575 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new position in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth $86,000. White Pine Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 23,467 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.