AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wedbush Analyst Says

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) had its target price lifted by Wedbush from $8.50 to $28.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 17.60% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AXTI. Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. B. Riley Financial downgraded shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $9.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, January 9th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $22.20.

AXT Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ AXTI opened at $23.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.79 and a beta of 1.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.73. AXT has a 12-month low of $1.13 and a 12-month high of $28.65.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.04). AXT had a negative net margin of 25.22% and a negative return on equity of 11.19%. The business had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. Equities analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.05, for a total value of $421,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,495,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,071,546.20. This represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total transaction of $371,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,369,000 over the last 90 days. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in AXT during the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Oasis Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at $164,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in AXT by 1,071.5% during the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,012 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. 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.