While Bitcoin and Ethereum have lost nearly 40% over the past 12 months, AXT Inc. shares have soared. By more than 5,100%, becoming one of the most impressive AI-related stories in the financial markets this cycle.
We break down what AXT is doing, why it blew up, and how it compares to Bitcoin and Ethereum during a tough year for cryptocurrency markets.
How AXT shares rose more than 5,100% in just 12 months
AXT Inc. is a California-based semiconductor company that manufactures high-performance composite substrates. Its main product is indium phosphide, along with gallium arsenide and germanium, all of which are important materials for advanced photonics and photonics applications via artificial intelligence.
Numbers speak loudly. AXTI traded near $1.74 in June 2025, then jumped to nearly $89 by early June 2026, a rise of more than 5,100% during this period.
The stock briefly touched an all-time high of over $140 on May 22, 2026, before correcting nearly 35%. Even after this decline, AXTI’s yearly gains remain impressive and rank among the best in the entire stock market.
This rise has been driven by the explosion in demand for AI infrastructure. Hyperscalers such as Googleamazon, MicrosoftMeta accelerated data center construction, leading to a record backlog of AXT and raising expectations for significant future capacity expansions.
AXT’s indium phosphide substrates power next-generation lasers and optical transceivers operating at speeds of 800G and 1.6T. These components enable ultra-fast interconnection within modern AI data centers, making them critical to the entire ecosystem.
The company controls approximately 40% of global indium phosphide supplies. There are few short-term substitutes, giving AXTI rare pricing power and a near-monopoly in a certain corner of the AI infrastructure supply chain.
In it Earnings for the first quarter of 2026 (AXTI) in a report released on April 30, reported revenue of $26.9 million, up 39% year over year from $19.4 million.
The company significantly improved its gross margin to 29.6% (from negative 6.4% in Q1 2025), while narrowing its GAAP net loss to $1.6 million ($0.03 per share), beating analysts’ expectations.
Strong demand for indium phosphide substrates for AI data centers drove the results, with a record backlog exceeding $100 million.
How do Bitcoin and Ethereum compare during the same year?
Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen the opposite story. The king of the cryptocurrency market was trading near $110,000 one year ago, and is now near $60,700, which is a roughly 40% drop over the same 12-month period.
This week the picture worsened sharply. Bitcoin suffered a major liquidation event, It fell more than 17% in one week and fell below $60,000approaching yearly lows that few major stockholders had expected.
The college background didn’t help. Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded outflows of more than $1.7 billion this week alone, the largest weekly data in more than a year, according to SosoValue. Data. Meanwhile, a strong jobs report in the United States Low expectations about upcoming interest rate cuts.
Ethereum followed a similar downward path. The asset traded near $2,685 one year ago and is now around $1,560, a roughly 35% correction across the same broader twelve-month window.
This week has been equally difficult for ETH. The token has fallen by more than 22% in 7 daysbreaking key technical support levels and reflecting the same risk-off sentiment that now dominates both cryptocurrency and traditional financial markets.
The AXTI story illustrates a powerful lesson. In the current AI cycle, some “pick and shovel” suppliers can provide revenue for this It dwarfs even the most popular crypto novelsincluding Bitcoin and Ethereum via a similar investment window.
However, the AXTI remains very volatile. The high valuation, reliance on the AI sector, and high exposure to production in China are real risks. The trajectory simply highlights the massive upside hiding within the quieter corners of the AI supply chain.
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