Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $30.11, but opened at $33.51. Aehr Test Systems shares last traded at $34.8680, with a volume of 665,980 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEHR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on Aehr Test Systems in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Aehr Test Systems from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Aehr Test Systems in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Aehr Test Systems from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aehr Test Systems currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Aehr Test Systems Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -114.15 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.30 and a 200 day moving average of $28.01.

Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $9.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.45 million. Aehr Test Systems had a negative net margin of 16.63% and a negative return on equity of 4.57%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Aehr Test Systems will post 0.1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aehr Test Systems news, Director Laura Oliphant sold 4,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.40, for a total transaction of $142,744.40. Following the sale, the director owned 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $578,764.80. This represents a 19.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rhea J. Posedel sold 13,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.02, for a total value of $420,219.96. Following the sale, the director owned 456,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,718,509.58. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEHR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aehr Test Systems by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,288,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $68,897,000 after purchasing an additional 65,444 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Aehr Test Systems by 200.0% in the third quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 75,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aehr Test Systems by 485.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 78,340 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 64,950 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aehr Test Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,920,000. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aehr Test Systems during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $272,000. 69.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.