Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $88.48, but opened at $81.36. Aehr Test Systems shares last traded at $82.2380, with a volume of 841,663 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on AEHR. Wall Street Zen raised Aehr Test Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. William Blair raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Craig Hallum raised shares of Aehr Test Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Aehr Test Systems Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.69 and a 200 day moving average of $34.51. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -230.60 and a beta of 2.28.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 7th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.85 million. Aehr Test Systems had a negative return on equity of 7.15% and a negative net margin of 25.23%. As a group, analysts expect that Aehr Test Systems will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Laura Oliphant sold 4,665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.59, for a total value of $399,277.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard T. Slayen sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.00, for a total value of $2,125,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 178,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,157,880. The trade was a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 382,184 shares of company stock valued at $28,362,244 in the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aehr Test Systems

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Aehr Test Systems by 262.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 50,207 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 36,364 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,344 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 7.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 110.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 3,617 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 3.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 41,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.69% of the company’s stock.

About Aehr Test Systems

Aehr Test Systems develops, manufactures and sells semiconductor test and burn-in equipment used by device manufacturers to ensure quality and reliability of integrated circuits. Its products are designed for wafer-level reliability assessment, functional test and stress screening of memory devices, system-on-chips, optical components and power semiconductors. By focusing on wafer-level burn-in and testing processes, the company helps reduce cost and improve yield for high-volume semiconductor production.

The company’s product portfolio includes FOX series wafer probe test and burn-in systems as well as ABTS burn-in ovens.