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

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 traded.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Axcelis Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Axcelis Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research lowered Axcelis Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Axcelis Technologies in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.50.

Insider Activity at Axcelis Technologies

In other Axcelis Technologies news, Director Jorge Titinger sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.05, for a total transaction of $172,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,395.85. The trade was a 21.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,661 shares in the company, valued at $1,669,413.06. This represents a 13.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about 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 Trading of Axcelis Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Axcelis Technologies by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 933 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Axcelis Technologies by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in Axcelis Technologies by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Axcelis Technologies Trading Down 18.2%

The stock has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 4.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $88.49 and its 200 day moving average is $85.66.

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