AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $73.78, but opened at $83.05. AXT shares last traded at $77.1050, with a volume of 3,633,305 shares.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AXTI. Weiss Ratings upgraded AXT from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Northland Securities set a $125.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of AXT from $73.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AXT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.00.

Insider Transactions at AXT

In related news, Director Jesse Chen sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.77, for a total value of $1,245,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 56,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,405,929.19. This represents a 18.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 8,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.17, for a total transaction of $926,379.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 65,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,244,393.05. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 251,636 shares of company stock valued at $27,789,677 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AXTI. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in AXT during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in AXT during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in AXT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Trading Down 1.3%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.39. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,872.50 and a beta of 1.90.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 1.55%. The firm 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. On average, analysts anticipate that AXT Inc will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

AXT Company Profile

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.