B. Riley Reiterates Buy Rating for AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI)

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at B. Riley in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $5.50. B. Riley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 256.08% from the stock’s previous close.

AXTI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $5.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $5.50 price objective on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their target price on AXT from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.30.

AXT Price Performance

Shares of AXTI traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1.69. 2,570,994 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,191. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.19 and a 200-day moving average of $2.30. The firm has a market cap of $75.40 million, a P/E ratio of -6.80 and a beta of 2.08. AXT has a one year low of $1.61 and a one year high of $5.64.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.08). AXT had a negative return on equity of 4.58% and a negative net margin of 10.73%. The business had revenue of $25.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.94 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that AXT will post -0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in AXT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atlas Brown Inc. purchased a new position in AXT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in AXT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AXT during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.52% of the company’s stock.

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.