AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI – Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.
Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on AXT from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on AXT in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings raised AXT from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised AXT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.80.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on AXT
AXT Stock Performance
Shares of AXTI stock opened at $36.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.60 and a beta of 2.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.53. AXT has a 52 week low of $7.81 and a 52 week high of $143.16.
AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $73.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.00 million. AXT had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 5.21%. Sell-side analysts forecast that AXT will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Leonard Leblanc sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.07, for a total transaction of $384,280.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 113,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,868,303.03. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in AXT during the second quarter worth about $365,607,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in AXT during the second quarter worth about $46,062,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in AXT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,911,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP bought a new position in AXT in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,842,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in AXT by 1,347.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 312,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,561,000 after buying an additional 291,368 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
More AXT News
Here are the key news stories impacting AXT this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded AXT from “hold” to “strong-buy,” which may bolster investor confidence. Zacks Research rating
- Positive Sentiment: Northland Securities raised its earnings forecasts across 2026 and 2027, including FY2027 EPS to $2.29 from $2.03 and FY2026 EPS to $1.15 from $0.81, signaling greater optimism about AXT’s growth outlook. Northland Securities estimates
- Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted a 162% year-over-year Q3 revenue increase and a backlog exceeding $500 million, citing strong demand for indium phosphide (InP), a material used in AI-related infrastructure and semiconductors. AXT Q3 results and outlook
- Neutral Sentiment: Zacks also included AXTI among Strong Buy AI-related stocks, framing the tech selloff as a potential buying opportunity; this is favorable commentary but not a company-specific business update. Zacks AI stock commentary
- Negative Sentiment: Coverage cautioned that AXTI’s sharp prior rally and valuation premium raise the risk of a pullback if growth or demand expectations disappoint. Valuation and risk discussion
AXT Company Profile
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.
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