AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIDR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

AEye, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIDR) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 4,201,333 shares, an increase of 88.9% from the April 15th total of 2,224,409 shares. Currently, 10.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 10,623,388 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LIDR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of AEye in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Craig Hallum started coverage on AEye in a research report on Friday, April 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3.50 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $4.75.

AEye Trading Down 9.1%

LIDR stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $1.89. 3,374,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,880,285. AEye has a twelve month low of $0.66 and a twelve month high of $6.44. The company has a market capitalization of $85.71 million, a P/E ratio of -1.67 and a beta of 2.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.03.

AEye (NASDAQ:LIDR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.04). AEye had a negative return on equity of 53.27% and a negative net margin of 12,698.89%.The firm had revenue of $0.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.28 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AEye

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AEye by 6.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 108,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of AEye by 819.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 676,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 603,241 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of AEye by 657.5% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 307,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 267,075 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of AEye in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of AEye in the third quarter valued at approximately $95,000. 21.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AEye

AEye, Inc is a technology company specializing in adaptive LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) systems designed to support advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous vehicles and other sensing applications. Through its intelligent detection and ranging (iDAR) platform, AEye integrates high-performance sensors with real-time data processing software to deliver customizable sensing ‘pipelines’ that prioritize relevant objects and environmental features. This approach enables longer detection ranges, higher resolution imagery and dynamic field-of-view adjustment, making AEye’s offerings well suited for complex driving environments and safety-critical scenarios.

The company’s core product suite centers on solid-state and hybrid LiDAR sensors that can be configured for a variety of end uses, including passenger vehicles, commercial trucks, robotics, mapping and defense.