AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Down 6.5% – Here’s What Happened

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) traded down 6.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $52.70 and last traded at $54.2950. 5,856,866 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 8,616,402 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.09.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AXTI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC lowered AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. 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. Finally, Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.80.

AXT Stock Down 8.5%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -110.72 and a beta of 1.75.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. The firm had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.24 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter worth $98,000. Oasis Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at $164,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in AXT by 1,071.5% in the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,012 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,072 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in AXT during the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.