AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $74.97, but opened at $80.91. AXT shares last traded at $77.6180, with a volume of 4,675,058 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of AXT from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of AXT to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

AXT Stock Up 6.2%

The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -165.71 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.70.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $23.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. Equities research analysts forecast that AXT Inc will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AXT

In other AXT news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 37,905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $1,938,082.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,275,328 shares in the company, valued at $116,337,520.64. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David C. Chang sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $920,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 72,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,346,224. This represents a 21.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 502,278 shares of company stock worth $21,196,754 over the last quarter. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AXT

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AXTI. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 3rd quarter worth about $52,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 2nd quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the 4th quarter worth about $98,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.