AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $13.00, but opened at $14.01. AXT shares last traded at $13.8890, with a volume of 1,405,520 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Northland Securities set a $10.00 price target on AXT in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush set a $7.00 price objective on shares of AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of AXT from $4.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.00.

AXT Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $611.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.31 and a beta of 1.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.10 and its 200-day moving average is $4.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AXT news, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,969,920.96. This trade represents a 15.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $30,071,546.20. The trade was a 1.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 326,767 shares of company stock valued at $3,329,808 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. White Pine Capital LLC raised its position in AXT by 2.8% in the second quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 860,411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 23,467 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AXT by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 530,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 227,333 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in AXT by 339.6% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 405,978 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 313,618 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AXT by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 8,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of AXT by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 205,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 58,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.