New York, March 3, 2026, 07:14 EST — Premarket
- AXTI shares slipped roughly 6% ahead of the bell, following a 22% surge the day before.
- SEC filings disclosed that CEO Morris Young, CFO Gary Fischer, and director Jesse Chen have proposed selling shares.
- Traders are eyeing if the rally sticks through the open, with the next earnings date set for April 23.
Shares of Nasdaq-listed AXT, Inc slipped 6.5% to $43.33 in Tuesday’s premarket, giving back a chunk of Monday’s 22.2% rally, which saw the stock close at $46.32.
The stock’s been lurching around in sharp swings. New insider sale filings—those alone can slow things down, whether or not the shares ever actually hit the tape.
The surge has mirrored broader interest in photonics and data-center optics stocks following Nvidia’s pledge to invest $2 billion apiece in Lumentum and Coherent, aiming to strengthen its AI processor lineup. Lumentum shares climbed 5%, while Coherent jumped 9% in early Monday trading after the news broke.
AXTI kicked off Monday at $41.72, then swung between $39.30 and $47.03, ultimately settling at $46.32 by the close, Yahoo Finance historical data show. Trading volume reached 12.85 million shares.
SEC Form 144 filings showed planned sales of 753,801 shares, representing roughly $30.2 million at current market prices. The filings list CEO Morris S. Young with 159,536 shares, CFO Gary L. Fischer at 494,265 shares, and director Jesse Chen for 100,000 shares.
A Form 144 gives notice under SEC Rule 144, the regulation for reselling restricted or “control” shares. It’s a heads-up that someone plans to sell—not confirmation that the sale actually happened.
Fischer picked up 247,828 common shares on Feb. 26 by exercising stock options, paying between $3.06 and $9.50 per share, according to a separate Form 4. After these moves, his stake rose to 685,543 shares.
AXT, headquartered in Fremont, California, is looking for first-quarter revenue to rise sequentially thanks to strong indium phosphide demand from AI infrastructure, despite falling short of its own export permit expectations in Q4. “We are also on track to double our indium phosphide manufacturing capacity this year,” CEO Morris Young said. Fourth-quarter revenue landed at $23.0 million, with a GAAP net loss of $3.5 million, or 8 cents a share. Excluding stock-based compensation, the non-GAAP loss was $2.3 million, or 5 cents per share. SEC
Export permits still hang in the balance, while Rule 144 notices are just paperwork until sellers actually move. Following moves like Monday’s, the stock isn’t immune to snapping back, even if the headlines are thin.
Tuesday’s regular trading will test if AXTI can stay above where it finished on Monday, and traders are also eyeing any insider sales that might turn up in the next round of filings. The company’s next earnings release is set for April 23.
