AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Up 15.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shot up 15.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $14.43 and last traded at $14.2310. 1,569,364 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 1,259,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AXTI. Wedbush set a $7.00 target price on AXT and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of AXT from $4.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Northland Securities set a $10.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of AXT from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.00.

AXT Stock Up 12.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $648.95 million, a P/E ratio of -26.78 and a beta of 1.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.05.

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

Insider Activity at AXT

In other AXT news, Director Leonard J. Leblanc sold 3,637 shares of AXT 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 sale, the director owned 118,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,738.75. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total value of $371,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 132,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,969,920.96. This trade represents a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 326,767 shares of company stock valued at $3,329,808. 8.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AXT by 339.6% in 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in AXT by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 530,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 227,333 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC bought a new stake in AXT during the 3rd quarter worth about $729,000. Destination Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter worth about $458,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 58,542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.