AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Earns "Buy" Rating from Needham & Company LLC

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $5.00 price target on the semiconductor company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target points to a potential upside of 136.97% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on AXTI. StockNews.com downgraded AXT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued 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 five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AXT has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $5.30.

AXT Stock Down 18.1 %

NASDAQ AXTI traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.11. 1,409,510 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,042,242. The company has a 50 day moving average of $2.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.02. AXT has a 52-week low of $1.89 and a 52-week high of $5.64. The firm has a market cap of $93.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.59 and a beta of 2.23.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $27.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.50 million. AXT had a negative return on equity of 5.87% and a negative net margin of 14.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AXT will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AXT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 347,200 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AXT by 833.3% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 272,416 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $919,000 after buying an additional 243,226 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AXT during the first quarter worth approximately $743,000. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AXT in the second quarter worth $503,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in AXT in the second quarter valued at $468,000. 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.