AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.38.

AXT Price Performance

AXT stock opened at $3.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.96. AXT has a 1-year low of $1.89 and a 1-year high of $5.64. The stock has a market cap of $170.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.65 and a beta of 2.28.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.03. AXT had a negative net margin of 21.01% and a negative return on equity of 7.36%. The business had revenue of $22.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Equities analysts expect that AXT will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in AXT by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AXT in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in AXT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. James Investment Research Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

AXT Company Profile

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.