Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Given New $530.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company raised its price target on Applied Materials from $440 to $530 and kept a buy rating, implying about 20% upside from the prior close.
• Applied Materials beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.86 and revenue of $7.91 billion, while also issuing Q3 guidance above consensus.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive overall, with 28 Buy ratings versus 7 Holds and a consensus Moderate Buy rating, even as some insiders recently sold shares.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $440.00 to $530.00 in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.30% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. KGI Securities raised shares of Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Applied Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $396.17.

Applied Materials Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Applied Materials stock opened at $440.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $349.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $377.52 and a 200 day moving average of $318.62. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $153.47 and a fifty-two week high of $448.45.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.39 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This represents a 3.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th 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 period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after acquiring an additional 3,583,751 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after acquiring an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $2,858,543,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials beat Q2 estimates, with EPS of $2.86 and revenue of $7.91 billion, both above Wall Street forecasts, reinforcing that demand for semiconductor equipment remains strong. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised guidance for Q3, with revenue outlook above consensus, signaling management expects AI and data-center spending to keep fueling orders. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted record or near-record margins, suggesting Applied Materials is benefiting from strong operating leverage as AI-related demand scales. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts turned more constructive after the report, including a TD Cowen reaffirmation of Buy and a higher price target, which can support the shares. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several previews and earnings-call coverage focused on the same core theme: investors are watching whether AI spending can offset softer China demand and export restrictions. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the strong results, some reports noted the stock traded lower in premarket, suggesting profit-taking or heightened expectations after a steep rally may be limiting immediate upside. Article Title

Applied Materials Company Profile

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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