New York, May 23, 2026, 12:02 EDT
- AXT jumped 16.37% to end Friday at $140.83, putting the stock up around 13.8% for the week.
- U.S. markets are closed for the weekend and will not open Monday due to Memorial Day.
- Investors have another conference on the calendar this week, plus a shareholder meeting that picks back up June 4.
AXT, Inc. shares surged to an all-time high Friday, finishing at $140.83 after rallying 16.37%. That followed a 15.69% climb on Thursday. The moves came as traders kept jumping into indium phosphide plays, betting on the material’s use in high-speed optical connections for AI data centers.
Market closure lines up with the calendar — it’s Saturday in New York, and U.S. stock markets don’t open again until Tuesday. They’ll be shut Monday for Memorial Day, so investors have to wait until after the long weekend to react.
AXT closed the week at $140.83, up 13.8% from $123.78 the previous Friday. The trading was choppy—shares dropped 14.46% Monday, bounced on Tuesday, edged lower on Wednesday, then jumped over Thursday and Friday.
Thin calendar ahead for the company, but some events on the books. AXT said on May 18 it would join the Craig-Hallum Institutional Investor Conference in Minneapolis on May 28 and the Northland Securities Virtual Growth Conference on June 23. That comes after its spot at B. Riley’s investor event in Los Angeles on May 21.
AXT’s gains are running up against the big question of if it can actually meet the demand for indium phosphide, or InP, and make money from it. InP is used in chips and optical parts that rely on light to move data, not just electrical signals. The stakes are high in data centers using lots of power for AI.
AXT reported first-quarter revenue of $26.9 million, up from $19.4 million last year. GAAP net loss was $1.6 million, or 3 cents a share, compared to a loss of $8.8 million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago. Gross margin jumped to 29.6%. Last year it was negative 6.4%.
AXT Chief Executive Morris Young said it is “an incredibly exciting time” for the company, after AXT finished a $632.5 million capital raise to fund Tongmei’s InP capacity buildout and research on products like 6-inch InP. Young also called InP substrates “a key ingredient” in fast optical data transfer for AI data centers. Business Wire
AXT’s recent capital raise is now in the mix for shares. The company sold 8.56 million shares at $64.25 last month, raising about $550 million. Underwriters later picked up their over-allotment. Most of the money is set to go to Beijing Tongmei Xtal Technology, the China unit.
Competitive pressure is part of the story. Coherent and Lumentum, two bigger optical and photonics stocks connected to AI data-center builds, are usually in focus on this trade. Both stocks fell on Friday, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF gained 2.4%.
But the stock is trading with a lot already in the price. The average one-year price target from analysts is $89.50, according to Fintel, which is well under where shares closed on Friday.
Supply is the main concern, not just demand. China’s export controls still matter for indium and photonics supply, and Reuters said this week Beijing’s export rules remain even after recent U.S.-China talks. Paul Triolo, partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, said slow or political licensing could disrupt companies relying on the supply chain.
AXT is warning about several risks in its filings, including export permits for indium phosphide substrates, Tongmei’s progress on its planned STAR Market listing in China, and U.S.-China tensions. The company says any delays on permits or capacity, or a slowdown in AI optical demand, could be a problem now that the stock has rallied.
AXT pushed back its annual meeting after coming up short on quorum, with proxies for roughly 48% of eligible shares when it called the break. The meeting will pick up again on June 4 at 11 a.m. Pacific.
