On July 20, AXT Inc rose 9.05% in regular trading, reaching $49.96/share with turnover of approximately $97.02 million, as the stock staged a strong rebound from prior pullback levels.

The rally was driven by a widening supply-demand gap in indium phosphide (InP) substrates, a critical material for AI data center optical interconnects. Industry research indicates 2-inch InP substrate prices are expected to rise 42%-76%, while 3-inch substrates may climb approximately 78%, as hyperscale cloud providers continue expanding AI infrastructure. AXT recently signed a Master Development and Supply Agreement with Coherent effective June 25, and its subsidiary Tongmei secured a 173 million RMB long-term supply contract with Nanjing Casela Technologies for InP wafer substrates through the end of next year, significantly enhancing order visibility.

The broader semiconductor equipment sector provided additional tailwinds, with Teradyne up 7.43%, Applied Materials up 2.66%, and Lam Research up 1.71%, reflecting sector-wide momentum that amplified AXT's individual catalysts.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)