AXTI
AXT, Inc.
AXTI offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
MSFT
Microsoft Corporation
MSFT has the edge over AXTI overall, supported by stronger valuation and lower modeled downside.
AXTI Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
AXTI's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
MSFT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
MSFT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently healthy.
AXTI PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 14x | $5.95 | -86% |
| Forward | 18x | $43.54 | — |
| Fair | 23x | $9.92 | -77% |
| Expensive | 96x | $42.09 | -3.3% |
| Current | 99x | $43.54 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
AXTI's PE is in its expensive range at 99x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 18x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
MSFT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 25x | $523 | — |
| Cheap | 27x | $525 | +0.4% |
| Current | 27x | $523 | — |
| Fair | 34x | $652 | +25% |
| Expensive | 37x | $711 | +36% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
MSFT has the edge over AXTI in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
AXTI Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
AXTI has the edge over MSFT on the outlook, with more favorable profitability expectations.
MSFT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Stable | |
| Moderate | |
| High |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for MSFT, with profitability holding steady.
AXTI Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.40 | +445% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.44 | +$0.95 |
| Q2 2026 | $0.01 | +$0.55 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.32 | +$0.10 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.49 | -$0.22 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.51 | -$0.26 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.54 | -$0.22 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.42 | -$0.02 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.27 | +$0.16 |
AXTI has returned to profit: it earned $0.44 per share over the past year, after losing money the year before.
MSFT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $20.79 | +8.6% |
| Q3 2026 | $19.15 | +36% |
| Q2 2026 | $17.95 | +32% |
| Q1 2026 | $16.80 | +30% |
| Q4 2025 | $15.99 | +29% |
| Q3 2025 | $14.06 | +16% |
| Q2 2025 | $13.64 | +16% |
| Q1 2025 | $12.93 | +12% |
| Q4 2024 | $12.41 | +12% |
MSFT has the edge over AXTI on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
AXTI Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $73.4M | +163% |
| Q2 2026 | $47.6M | +165% |
| Q1 2026 | $26.9M | +39% |
| Q4 2025 | $23M | -8.2% |
| Q3 2025 | $28M | +18% |
| Q2 2025 | $18M | -36% |
| Q1 2025 | $19.4M | -15% |
| Q4 2024 | $25.1M | +23% |
AXTI's revenue is growing: $73M last quarter, up 163% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 39% | +43 points |
| Q2 2026 | 22% | +59 points |
| Q1 2026 | -5.9% | +47 points |
| Q4 2025 | -17% | +7.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | -4% | +10 points |
| Q2 2025 | -38% | -31 points |
| Q1 2025 | -53% | -38 points |
| Q4 2024 | -25% | -7.1 points |
AXTI's operating margin was 39% last quarter, up 43 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
MSFT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $92.3B | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $90B | +18% |
| Q1 2026 | $82.9B | +18% |
| Q4 2025 | $81.3B | +17% |
| Q3 2025 | $77.7B | +18% |
| Q2 2025 | $76.4B | +18% |
| Q1 2025 | $70.1B | +13% |
| Q4 2024 | $69.6B | +12% |
MSFT's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $92.3B last quarter, up 19% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 50% | +0.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 45% | +0.2 points |
| Q1 2026 | 46% | +0.7 points |
| Q4 2025 | 47% | +1.6 points |
| Q3 2025 | 49% | +2.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 45% | +1.8 points |
| Q1 2025 | 46% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 45% | +1.9 points |
MSFT has the edge over AXTI on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
AXTI Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $87.7M | +$99M |
| Q2 2026 | $3.6M | +$8.4M |
| Q1 2026 | -$13.1M | -$9.2M |
| Q4 2025 | $1.3M | +14% |
| Q3 2025 | -$11.3M | -$5M |
| Q2 2025 | -$4.9M | -949% |
| Q1 2025 | -$3.9M | +$9.3M |
| Q4 2024 | $1.1M | -48% |
AXTI has the edge over MSFT on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
MSFT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $18.6B | -27% |
| Q2 2026 | $19.6B | -23% |
| Q1 2026 | $15.8B | -22% |
| Q4 2025 | $5.9B | -9.3% |
| Q3 2025 | $25.7B | +33% |
| Q2 2025 | $25.6B | +9.6% |
| Q1 2025 | $20.3B | -3.2% |
| Q4 2024 | $6.5B | -29% |
MSFT's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $60B over the past year, down 23% from the year before.
AXTI Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +3.8% | +2.4M shares |
| 1 year | +51% | +22.2M shares |
| 3 years | +55% | +23.3M shares |
| 5 years | +54% | +23.1M shares |
| Available history | +67% | +26.4M shares |
AXTI has 66M diluted shares, up 51% from a year ago.
MSFT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.1% | -7M shares |
| 1 year | -0.3% | -20M shares |
| 3 years | -0.2% | -16M shares |
| 5 years | -1.6% | -121M shares |
| Available history | -3.2% | -245M shares |
MSFT has the edge over AXTI on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.4B |
| Q2 2026 | $4.6B |
| Q1 2026 | $4.6B |
| Q4 2025 | $7.4B |
| Q3 2025 | $5.7B |
| Q2 2025 | $4.5B |
| Q1 2025 | $4.8B |
| Q4 2024 | $5B |
MSFT spent $21B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 5.2% from the year before.
AXTI Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -9.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | -24.4x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2023 | 93.9x | High |
| Q1 2023 | 5.5x | High |
| Q4 2022 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q3 2022 | 2.2x | Moderate |
| Q2 2022 | -0.4x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2022 | -0.5x | Net Cash |
AXTI has the edge over MSFT on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
MSFT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.1x | Very low |
MSFT's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
AXTI Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 42.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 15.1 | Oversold |
AXTI's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 15 (oversold).
MSFT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 62.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 68.0 | Neutral |
MSFT's weekly RSI is 62 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 68 (neutral).
AXTI PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | AXTI | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 99x | 28x | 255% above |
| PE % | 83 | 35 | 48 pts above |
AXTI is trading at 99x earnings, a 255% premium to the Technology sector's median of 28x.
MSFT PE vs Technology Sector
| Metric | MSFT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 27x | 28x | 2% below |
| PE % | 16 | 35 | 19 pts below |
MSFT has the edge over AXTI on valuation relative to its sector.
AXTI Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $59.3 | 27% below |
| 20 week MA | $61.9 | 30% below |
| 50 week MA | $58.0 | 25% below |
| 100 week MA | $30.5 | 43% above |
| 200 week MA | $16.8 | 159% above |
AXTI has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 159% above its 200-week average.
MSFT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $524.7 | 0.3% below |
| 20 week MA | $484.8 | 7.9% above |
| 50 week MA | $446.9 | 17% above |
| 100 week MA | $453.8 | 15% above |
| 200 week MA | $411.5 | 27% above |
MSFT has the edge over AXTI on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
AXTI Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4.04 | $9.64 | +139% |
| 2021 | $9.64 | $8.80 | -8.7% |
| 2022 | $8.80 | $4.40 | -50% |
| 2023 | $4.40 | $2.40 | -45% |
| 2024 | $2.40 | $2.28 | -5% |
| 2025 | $2.28 | $15.4 | +574% |
| 2026 YTD | $15.4 | $43.5 | +183% |
AXTI has the edge over MSFT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
MSFT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $159.0 | $222.8 | +40% |
| 2021 | $222.8 | $334.7 | +50% |
| 2022 | $334.7 | $238.7 | -29% |
| 2023 | $238.7 | $376.0 | +58% |
| 2024 | $376.0 | $430.5 | +14% |
| 2025 | $430.5 | $487.7 | +13% |
| 2026 YTD | $487.7 | $523.0 | +7.2% |
MSFT has finished higher in five of the last six years, two of them by more than 50%. It's up 7.2% so far in 2026.