AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wedbush set a $7.00 target price on AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley downgraded AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $9.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.75.

AXT Trading Down 14.1%

NASDAQ AXTI opened at $22.09 on Friday. AXT has a 1 year low of $1.13 and a 1 year high of $26.66. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of -42.48 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $14.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.63.

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

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. This trade represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.41, for a total value of $30,587.17. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 118,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,738.75. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 326,767 shares of company stock worth $3,329,808. 8.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in AXT during the third quarter worth $52,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of AXT by 12.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AXT by 2,333,600.0% in the third quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 23,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 23,336 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new stake in AXT during the third quarter worth about $112,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.