16,617 Shares in AXT Inc $AXTI Purchased by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 16,617 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,286,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in AXT during the second quarter worth approximately $365,607,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,062,000. Ariose Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in AXT in the 1st quarter valued at $39,061,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,911,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of AXT by 1,347.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 312,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,561,000 after acquiring an additional 291,368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AXT reported third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.41, surpassing the $0.31 consensus estimate, while revenue of $73.4 million exceeded expectations of approximately $66 million. Revenue increased 162% year over year, helped by record indium phosphide (InP) sales. AXTI Q3 Earnings Beat on Record InP Sales and Margin Gains
• Positive Sentiment: Management cited strong artificial-intelligence data-center demand, a backlog exceeding $500 million and surging InP requirements. AXT plans aggressive capacity expansion and indicated stronger fourth-quarter expectations, supporting the longer-term growth outlook. AXTI Q3 Earnings Call Highlights AI Demand and Capacity Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability improved sharply: GAAP gross margin reached approximately 56%, versus 44.9% in the prior quarter and 22.3% a year earlier, while GAAP diluted EPS rose to $0.39 from $0.17. Wedbush also praised AXT’s management following the results. AXT in focus as Wedbush likens management to Jaws hero after strong results
• Neutral Sentiment: B. Riley raised its price target modestly to $56 from $55 but maintained a Neutral rating, indicating limited near-term upside at recent trading levels. B. Riley Financial Ratings
• Negative Sentiment: The decline appears partly driven by profit-taking and risk reduction ahead of earnings after a sharp momentum rally. The stock’s high valuation, semiconductor volatility and sensitivity to export permits and China-related approvals may be prompting investors to lock in gains. AXT Falls as Investors Appear to Take Profits Ahead of Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity shows 16 open-market sales and no purchases during the past six months, a potential supply and confidence concern for investors.

Insider Activity at AXT

In other news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $384,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 113,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AXT Stock Performance

AXTI opened at $55.06 on Friday. AXT Inc has a one year low of $7.80 and a one year high of $143.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 122.36 and a beta of 1.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $66.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.07.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $73.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.00 million. AXT had a return on equity of 6.35% and a net margin of 18.53%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on AXT in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of AXT from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.80.

About AXT

AXT, Inc develops and manufactures compound semiconductor substrates used as the foundation for various high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Its principal products include gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), and germanium substrates, along with other specialty materials such as gallium antimonide and indium arsenide.

The company’s substrates are used in applications including wireless communications, fiber-optic and data-center networks, lasers, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, consumer electronics, and aerospace and defense systems.