AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 665,400 shares, a drop of 21.2% from the September 15th total of 844,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 295,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

AXT Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AXTI opened at $2.50 on Tuesday. AXT has a twelve month low of $1.89 and a twelve month high of $5.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.13. The company has a market capitalization of $111.00 million, a PE ratio of -6.25 and a beta of 2.23.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. AXT had a negative net margin of 14.75% and a negative return on equity of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $27.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AXT will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AXTI. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in AXT by 833.3% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 272,416 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 243,226 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in AXT by 1,142.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 377,600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 347,200 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in AXT in the second quarter worth $122,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its holdings in AXT by 208.6% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 115,388 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 78,001 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in AXT in the second quarter worth $468,000. Institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXTI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.38.

About AXT

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.