AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $79.93, but opened at $76.64. AXT shares last traded at $76.78, with a volume of 1,911,514 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AXTI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. B. Riley Financial decreased their price target on AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

AXT Stock Down 5.9%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.69 and a 200-day moving average of $73.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,804.10 and a beta of 1.92.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.12. AXT had a return on equity of 0.96% and a net margin of 3.23%.The company had revenue of $47.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 million. AXT has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.300-0.320 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AXT

In related news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total value of $384,280.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 113,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in AXT by 79.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in AXT by 1,347.0% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 312,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,561,000 after buying an additional 291,368 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of AXT by 10.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,928 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at $152,000. Finally, Amundi acquired a new position in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used to produce high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its product portfolio includes gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with related materials and services supporting semiconductor manufacturing.

The company’s substrates are used in applications such as wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networking, optical sensing, laser devices, aerospace and defense systems, and solar cells.