AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Stock Price Up 12.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) shot up 12.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $66.28 and last traded at $70.9550. 1,607,793 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 9,872,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AXTI. Needham & Company LLC lowered AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on AXT in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wedbush upped their target price on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 target price on AXT in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AXT has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

AXT Trading Up 20.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of -156.79 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.46.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. Equities research analysts expect that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.53, for a total value of $770,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 112,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,344,026.32. This trade represents a 15.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total value of $706,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 123,612 shares in the company, valued at $5,825,833.56. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754 over the last three months. 5.97% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in AXT in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in AXT in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in AXT in the second quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at about $98,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.