Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Applied Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 34 analysts, with 27 Buy ratings and an average 1-year price target of about $593.84.
• Several firms recently raised price targets on the stock, including Susquehanna to $900 and Cantor Fitzgerald to $850, reflecting optimism tied to AI-driven demand and earnings growth.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.86 and revenue of $7.91 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share.

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty-four research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $593.8387.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised their price target on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $540.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Truist Financial set a $575.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Materials this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Applied Materials and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the company’s growth outlook and AI-driven demand. Article link
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO comments reinforcing the AI investment thesis may help support longer-term sentiment around the stock. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that AMAT has been drawing increased attention from investors, but the piece was mainly a stock-screening update rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggested Applied Materials may be trading above fair value after a strong multi-year run, which could limit upside even if earnings remain solid. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: A broad semiconductor selloff is pressuring AMAT along with peers like AMD and Intel, as the market rotates out of chip stocks and into other areas. Article link

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total transaction of $5,547,872.50. Following the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. This trade represents a 18.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 10,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $633.53, for a total value of $6,335,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 346,642 shares in the company, valued at $219,608,106.26. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $19,731,523,000 after purchasing an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $8,405,458,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Applied Materials by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $2,746,769,000 after buying an additional 1,558,749 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $529.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 2.51. The company has a market capitalization of $420.53 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $533.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $413.05. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $154.46 and a fifty-two week high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.Applied Materials's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and other advanced materials. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company designs and sells capital equipment and related technologies that enable production of integrated circuits, display panels and materials used across the electronics supply chain.

Applied Materials' offerings include process equipment and factory software that support critical steps in device fabrication, such as deposition, etch, implantation, inspection and metrology, as well as systems for packaging and advanced heterogeneous integration.

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