AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Short Interest Update

AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 609,400 shares, a drop of 7.2% from the November 30th total of 656,700 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 376,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

AXT Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of AXTI traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 270,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 936,625. The company has a market cap of $96.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.64. AXT has a twelve month low of $1.73 and a twelve month high of $5.64.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $23.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.98 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 10.73% and a negative return on equity of 4.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of AXT from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of AXT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.30.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in AXT by 13.0% during 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 buying an additional 169,406 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of AXT by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 606,417 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after acquiring an additional 54,891 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of AXT by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 464,022 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 7,577 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in AXT by 1,142.1% during 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 last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in AXT by 25.1% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 301,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 60,623 shares during the period. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.