B. Riley Financial Has Lowered Expectations for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial cut its Applied Materials price target to $475 from $700, while maintaining a Buy rating; the new target implies 31.41% upside from the share price cited in the report.
• Analyst views remain broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with a $625.76 average target, despite some firms also reducing their targets.
• Applied Materials beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $3.50 versus $3.40 expected and revenue of $9.12 billion versus $8.99 billion; revenue rose 24.8% year over year.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at B. Riley Financial from $700.00 to $475.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. B. Riley Financial's target price points to a potential upside of 31.41% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $740.00 to $580.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Applied Materials from $645.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their price target on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Thirty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $625.76.

Applied Materials Trading Up 8.6%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $361.46 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $444.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $444.66. Applied Materials has a 1 year low of $203.40 and a 1 year high of $739.67. The company has a market capitalization of $286.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total value of $3,594,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,005,000. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,589,000. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 333.3% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 25,853 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $12,631,000 after buying an additional 19,886 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.0% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,008,591 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $729,211,000 after buying an additional 28,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 462,685 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $334,521,000 after buying an additional 105,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

About Applied Materials

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.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers around the world.

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