AXT, Inc. (AXTI) DCF Valuation & Fundamental Primer
AXT, Inc. (AXTI) currently trades at $16.67 with an enterprise value of $477.4M. Our proprietary institutional model rates AXT, Inc. at 65/100 (Grade: B+ · Quality Software Operator). The current market price prices in an implied 5-year revenue CAGR of 28.0% vs. historical growth of 17.3% (Aggressive Growth Expectations Priced In).
Institutional fundamental teardown of AXT, Inc. (AXTI) covering SEC 10-K/10-Q cash flow conversion, SBC dilution friction, and Reverse-DCF valuation hurdles.
AXT, Inc. (AXTI) 3-Scenario DCF Valuation Range
Stress-test AXTI's 5-year growth, target FCF margin, WACC, terminal methodology, and SBC/dilution friction in real time.
Split between 5-Year Explicit Cash Flows and Discounted Terminal Value
2D Institutional Valuation Sensitivity Heatmap
Implied share price & upside/downside spread across 25 valuation states (Current Price: $16.67).
| WACC \ Terminal | 1.5% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 3.5% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.5% | $12.62 -24% | $13.37 -20% | $14.25 -15% | $15.29 -8% | $16.53 -1% |
| 9.3% | $11.39 -32% | $11.99 -28% | $12.67 -24% | $13.46 -19% | $14.38 -14% |
| 10.0% | $10.39 -38% | $10.86 -35% | $11.40 -32% | $12.02 -28% | $12.73 -24% |
| 10.8% | $9.54 -43% | $9.93 -40% | $10.37 -38% | $10.86 -35% | $11.43 -31% |
| 11.5% | $8.83 -47% | $9.15 -45% | $9.51 -43% | $9.91 -41% | $10.37 -38% |
Institutional Software Quality Scorecard (65/100 · Grade B+)
Solid software model with clear operating leverage, partially offset by standard SBC or moderate burn.
Positive FCF but lower conversion efficiency due to capex or timing
Elevated equity dilution; SBC consumes substantial operating cash flow
High-quality software margins with healthy balanced growth and profitability
Positive net cash cushion; self-funding operations with zero insolvency risk
Core Investment Strengths & Moats
- Healthy unit economics: 75.6% gross margin
- Net cash positive: $33.3M balance sheet buffer
Key Operational & Dilution Risks
- Substantial SBC dilution drag: SBC is 18.6% of revenue ($16.3M)
Reverse-DCF Solver: What Growth is Priced Into AXTI?
The current share price demands 28.0% 5-year CAGR (47.0% net of SBC & dilution)—a +10.7% acceleration over historical run-rate (17.3%). Any growth slowdown risks valuation multiple contraction.
Headline Reverse-DCF ignores Stock-Based Compensation (18.6% of revenue) and annual share dilution (1.8%/yr). Accounting for both requires 47.0% 5-year revenue CAGR to justify $16.67/sh on a true per-share economic cash flow basis.
AXT, Inc. (AXTI) 5-Year Fundamental Forecast
| Statement Line Item | TTM Audited Base | TTM | Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | Y5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $87.8M | $87.8M | $103.0M | $120.9M | $141.8M | $166.3M | $195.1M |
| Gross Profit | $66.4M | $66.4M | $77.9M | $91.4M | $107.2M | $125.7M | $147.5M |
| Operating Income (EBIT) | $-439.2K | $-439.2K | $-515.2K | $-604.3K | $-708.8K | $-831.4K | $-975.3K |
| Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) | $16.3M | $16.3M | $19.2M | $22.5M | $26.4M | $30.9M | $36.3M |
| Unlevered Free Cash Flow (FCF) | $19.1M | $19.1M | $22.5M | $26.3M | $30.9M | $36.3M | $42.5M |
| SBC-Adjusted True Cash Flow | $2.8M | $2.8M | $3.3M | $3.9M | $4.5M | $5.3M | $6.2M |
Software & Cloud Services Peer Comparables & Rule of 40 Regression
Rule of 40 vs. EV / Revenue Multiple Regression
OLS Fit: EV/Rev = -19.7 + 0.62 × (Rule of 40) · R² = 69%Stocks below the gold regression line trade at a discount relative to their Rule of 40 compounding efficiency.
| Company | Ticker | Market Cap | TTM Revenue | Gross Margin | FCF Margin | Rule of 40 | SBC % Rev | EV / Rev |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AXT, Inc. | AXTI | $746.6M | $87.8M | 75.6% | 21.8% | 39.1% | 18.6% | 8.1× |
| ServiceNow | NOW | $152.61B | $10.98B | 79.2% | 31.1% | 54.2% | 15.9% | 13.9× |
| Workday, Inc. | WDAY | $50.35B | $8.00B | 75.0% | 27.4% | 43.9% | 19.0% | 6.4× |
| Salesforce | CRM | $217.10B | $37.90B | 77.2% | 32.8% | 42.8% | 8.4% | 5.8× |
| Datadog | DDOG | $46.05B | $2.68B | 80.8% | 31.1% | 57.7% | 21.3% | 17.4× |
| Snowflake Inc. | SNOW | $71.79B | $3.63B | 66.5% | 25.2% | 57.7% | 40.8% | 20.0× |
| Hubspot | HUBS | $19.89B | $2.63B | 85.0% | 21.3% | 52.7% | 19.2% | 7.7× |
| Peer Cohort Median Benchmark (N=6) | 78.2% | 29.2% | 53.5% | 19.1% | 10.8× | |||
EV / Revenue Multiple Compression Stress Test
| Multiple Scenario | EV / Revenue | Implied Enterprise Value | Implied Equity Value | Implied Share Price | Delta vs Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Multiple | 8.1× | $713.3M | $746.6M | $16.67 | 0.0% |
| -20% Multiple Compression | 6.5× | $570.6M | $603.9M | $13.48 | -20.0% |
| -35% Multiple Compression | 5.3× | $463.6M | $496.9M | $11.10 | -35.0% |
| Software Baseline Floor (5.0× EV/Rev) | 5.0× | $439.2M | $472.5M | $10.55 | -38.4% |
Frequently Asked Questions: AXT, Inc. (AXTI) Valuation
What is AXT, Inc. (AXTI)'s intrinsic DCF valuation and implied share price?
Based on audited SEC 10-K/10-Q filings and a 5-year 3-statement discounted cash flow (DCF) model, AXT, Inc. (AXTI) has a Base Case implied value of $11.40 per share (with a Bear Case of $5.59 and a Bull Case of $19.19), compared to its current price of $16.67. The model discounts projected free cash flows at a 10.0% WACC and a 2.5% terminal growth rate.
What is AXT, Inc. (AXTI)'s Rule of 40 score and Free Cash Flow margin?
AXT, Inc. achieves a Rule of 40 score of 39.1%, combining a 17.3% revenue growth run-rate with a 21.8% TTM free cash flow margin on $87.8M in trailing twelve-month revenue. In the Software & Cloud Services peer cohort, the median Rule of 40 benchmark is 53.5%.
What revenue growth rate is priced into AXTI stock according to Reverse-DCF analysis?
At $16.67 per share (Enterprise Value of $713.3M), our Reverse-DCF solver indicates the market is pricing in a 5-year implied revenue CAGR of 28.0%, compared to AXT, Inc.'s historical CAGR of 17.3%. Overall market expectations are rated as "Aggressive Growth Expectations Priced In".
How does AXT, Inc. compare to Software & Cloud Services software peers?
AXT, Inc. (AXTI) earns an institutional Software Quality Score of 65/100 (Grade B+ — Quality Software Operator). Across its Software & Cloud Services peer group (NOW, WDAY, CRM, DDOG, SNOW), the cohort trades at a median EV/TTM Revenue multiple of 10.8× and a median gross margin of 78.2%.
How does Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) impact AXT, Inc. (AXTI)'s valuation?
AXT, Inc. recorded $16.3M in TTM stock-based compensation (18.6% of revenue). When treating SBC as a cash-equivalent compensation expense, AXT, Inc.'s SBC-adjusted free cash flow yield is 0.4%, scoring 10/25 on our Shareholder Dilution Friction pillar.
