AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.10.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AXTI. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AXT to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price objective (up from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $4.50 target price (down previously from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Institutional Trading of AXT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in AXT by 65.4% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,937,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,204,000 after buying an additional 766,122 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $628,000. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of AXT by 13.0% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,477,169 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after acquiring an additional 169,406 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of AXT by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 915,460 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,987,000 after acquiring an additional 106,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AXT by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 606,365 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 96,195 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AXT Price Performance

AXTI stock opened at $1.48 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.49 million, a P/E ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 2.17. AXT has a 1 year low of $1.29 and a 1 year high of $4.99.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.08). AXT had a negative net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 5.27%. The firm had revenue of $25.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.94 million. On average, analysts expect that AXT will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

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.