Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI)

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 9,810 put options on the company. This is an increase of 73% compared to the average daily volume of 5,678 put options.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total transaction of $6,911,099.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,482,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $107,521,886.16. This trade represents a 6.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total transaction of $770,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 112,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,344,026.32. This trade represents a 15.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 450,287 shares of company stock worth $18,558,653. 8.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong acquired a new stake in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at about $22,738,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in AXT during the fourth quarter worth about $20,187,000. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 1,314.6% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 904,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,790,000 after acquiring an additional 840,650 shares during the last quarter. Maytree Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter worth about $11,156,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of AXT by 2,404.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 574,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,398,000 after purchasing an additional 551,876 shares in the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AXT Price Performance

NASDAQ:AXTI traded up $2.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.13. 7,463,657 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,474,607. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.73 and a 200 day moving average of $14.56. AXT has a 1-year low of $1.13 and a 1-year high of $51.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -102.67 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 10.59%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting AXT

Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Shares jumped sharply (reported ~14.9% gain) on heavy volume, suggesting strong short-term buying momentum and renewed investor interest. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high options volume was reported, indicating speculative or directional positioning by traders that can amplify intraday moves. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/coverage feature examining AXT’s indium phosphide position and potential to benefit from AI demand — a strategic narrative that can support a higher valuation if revenue follows. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in reports shows 0 shares (likely a data/reporting anomaly). That makes short-interest-driven squeezes hard to interpret from the published figures alone; ignore the raw zero number until exchanges/clearing update official data.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling by top executives: multiple SEC filings show CEO Morris S. Young and directors sold substantial blocks on March 10–11 (CEO sale reported 30,832 shares at ~$45.60; Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 at $46.00; Director Jesse Chen sold 14,000 and 15,000 at ~ $46–$47). Aggregated coverage and filings point to a material, coordinated sell-off that can weigh on sentiment despite current momentum. See coverage and SEC filings: Read More.; Morris SEC filing: Read More.; Chang filing: Read More.; Chen filings: Read More.; additional coverage: Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTI has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wedbush increased their price objective on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

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.