AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $74.97, but opened at $80.91. AXT shares last traded at $77.6180, with a volume of 4,675,058 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AXTI shares. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -165.71 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.70.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. The firm had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.24 million. Analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total value of $6,911,099.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total transaction of $770,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,344,026.32. This represents a 15.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754 in the last ninety days. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Destination Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $458,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of AXT by 2,404.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AXT by 2,333,600.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 23,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 23,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AXT Company Profile

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.