Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Earns "Outperform" Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reiterated its “Outperform” rating on Applied Materials and set a $600 price target, implying 67.86% upside from the cited share price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: 29 analysts rate the stock Buy and 10 Hold, for a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target of $604.09.
• Applied Materials beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $4.16 per share and $10.41 billion in revenue. Shares nevertheless fell $23.50 to $357.44 in Friday trading.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $600.00 price target on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price suggests a potential upside of 67.86% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AMAT. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $683.00 to $641.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Argus set a $600.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $604.09.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT traded down $23.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $357.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,144,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,896,606. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $283.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $439.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $445.83. Applied Materials has a 1-year low of $203.40 and a 1-year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The business had revenue of $10.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.17 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 4.150-4.550 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,181 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. The trade was a 18.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after buying an additional 1,246,876 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $5,576,932,000 after buying an additional 1,073,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Recent Applied Materials Headlines

These are some of the AMAT headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Management said chip demand remains well above supply, with customers seeking earlier equipment deliveries. Strong AI, memory and advanced-packaging demand supports the growth outlook, though component and clean-room capacity limit how quickly Applied can ship. Applied Materials Says Chip Demand Remains Much Higher Than Supply
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied expects shipments to China to account for less than a quarter of its business in 2027. That would reduce reliance on a market exposed to export restrictions, but China remains a concern for investors. Applied Materials stock information
• Negative Sentiment: The strong quarter received a muted response as investors remain cautious about the recent semiconductor sell-off and Nvidia-related uncertainty. The market may want more evidence that demand and the 2027 outlook can hold up. Applied Materials’ Beat Gets a Lukewarm Reception

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc. develops and supplies equipment, software and services used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its technologies help customers build and process materials at the microscopic scale required for chips and other electronic products. The company's offerings include systems for depositing, removing and modifying materials, as well as inspection, measurement and process-control tools. It also provides equipment and services for advanced semiconductor packaging and supports customers with maintenance, upgrades and manufacturing software.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.