AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) Short Interest Up 85.2% in February

AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) saw a large 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. Based on an average daily volume of 601,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

AXT Stock Performance

AXTI stock opened at $1.60 on Friday. AXT has a 1-year low of $1.29 and a 1-year high of $5.64. The firm has a market cap of $71.60 million, a PE ratio of -5.71 and a beta of 2.17. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $1.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.19.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). AXT had a negative net margin of 11.70% and a negative return on equity of 5.27%. The business had revenue of $25.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.94 million. On average, analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AXTI. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of AXT by 65.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,937,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,204,000 after acquiring an additional 766,122 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in AXT by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,551,380 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,366,000 after purchasing an additional 74,211 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AXT by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 915,460 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 106,121 shares in the last quarter. White Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AXT by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 668,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,246 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of AXT by 10.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 606,417 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 54,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.