StockNews.com Lowers AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) to Sell

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AXT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.38.

AXT Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of AXTI stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $2.42. 268,138 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,129,725. The company has a market capitalization of $107.45 million, a PE ratio of -6.05 and a beta of 2.23. AXT has a 12-month low of $1.89 and a 12-month high of $5.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.30.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $27.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.50 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 14.75% and a negative return on equity of 5.87%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that AXT will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in AXT by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in AXT during the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AXT by 125.0% during the 2nd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 13,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of AXT during the 1st quarter valued at $93,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.