Morgan Stanley Cuts Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target to $563.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley lowered Applied Materials’ price target to $563 from $642 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 16% upside from the stock’s $485 price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Applied Materials has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $655.72, despite differing targets from other brokerages.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with $3.50 in adjusted earnings per share and $9.12 billion in revenue, increases of 24.8% year over year; institutional investors own 80.56% of its shares.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $642.00 to $563.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective indicates a potential upside of 16.08% from the stock's current price.

AMAT has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Applied Materials from $715.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $510.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $655.72.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $485.00 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $488.75 and its 200-day moving average is $470.77. The company has a market cap of $384.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $197.39 and a 52-week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.40 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 $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.25, for a total transaction of $3,594,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,613 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,637,780.25. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 28,500 shares of company stock valued at $18,763,775 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after buying an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $50,267,184,000 after acquiring an additional 32,018,892 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 1,073,879 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global provider of materials engineering solutions used to manufacture semiconductors, displays and other advanced electronic products. The company develops and supplies equipment, services and software that help customers build and improve the performance of chips and display panels.

Its semiconductor products support processes including deposition, etch, patterning, inspection, metrology and materials modification. Applied Materials also provides equipment and services for display manufacturing, including technologies used in producing liquid-crystal and organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as solutions for adjacent markets such as solar and other specialty applications.

Founded in 1967 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials serves semiconductor and display manufacturers worldwide through operations, customer-support centers and research and development activities across major technology-producing regions.

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