AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after B. Riley Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $52.00. The stock had previously closed at $47.88, but opened at $44.25. B. Riley Financial currently has a neutral rating on the stock. AXT shares last traded at $40.9060, with a volume of 3,247,188 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Northland Securities set a $125.00 price objective on AXT in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 123,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.33, for a total value of $14,007,701.33. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,149,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,606,574.89. This represents a 5.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total value of $1,245,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 56,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,405,929.19. The trade was a 18.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 251,636 shares of company stock worth $27,789,677 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter worth about $22,738,000. Maytree Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth about $11,156,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in AXT by 3,764.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,594 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 11,294 shares during the last quarter. Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P bought a new position in AXT during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,014,000. Finally, Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,956,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AXT Stock Down 15.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -130.55 and a beta of 1.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.37.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $26.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.22 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 14.69% and a negative return on equity of 5.71%. AXT has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.080 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

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.