AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $41.19 and last traded at $40.97, with a volume of 10209394 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.80.

AXT Trading Up 16.8%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.07 and a 200-day moving average of $11.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.35 and a beta of 1.96.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). AXT had a negative return on equity of 10.59% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The business had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. On average, research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total transaction of $371,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 132,744 shares in the company, valued at $1,969,920.96. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,369,000 over the last quarter. 8.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the second quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter worth about $98,000. 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.