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

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $44.36, but opened at $47.00. AXT shares last traded at $50.6020, with a volume of 1,982,380 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AXTI. Wedbush raised their price objective on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on AXT to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -101.99 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative return on equity of 10.59% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The business had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.24 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In other news, Director Jesse Chen sold 8,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total transaction of $406,170.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 109,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,503,681.50. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total value of $920,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 72,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,346,224. This represents a 21.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AXTI. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in AXT in the third quarter worth about $52,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in AXT in the fourth quarter worth about $69,000. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in AXT in the second quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in AXT during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.