AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 999,900 shares, an increase of 85.2% from the February 13th total of 540,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 601,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in AXT in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of AXT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Atlas Brown Inc. acquired a new stake in AXT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in AXT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in AXT during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXTI has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective (up from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $4.50 price target (down previously from $5.50) on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.10.

AXT Stock Performance

AXTI stock opened at $1.80 on Friday. AXT has a one year low of $1.29 and a one year high of $5.64. The firm has a market cap of $80.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.43 and a beta of 2.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.18.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $25.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.94 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 5.27%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.