AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $71.49 and last traded at $58.5530, with a volume of 1958778 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $60.63.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush increased their price objective on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Trading Up 8.1%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.59. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of -118.71 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.50% and a negative net margin of 24.07%.The company had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.24 million. Research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other news, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of AXT stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total value of $706,950.00. Following the sale, the director owned 123,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,825,833.56. The trade was a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total transaction of $770,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 112,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,344,026.32. This trade represents a 15.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. 8.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in AXT by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.