Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Up 3.1% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 3.1% to about $394.49, and multiple brokers raised price targets (Wells Fargo to $435, B. Riley to $485, UBS to $430), leaving a MarketBeat consensus of a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $368.29.
• Applied beat expectations with $2.38 EPS (vs. $2.21 est.) and $7.01B revenue (vs. $6.88B), set Q2 2026 guidance of $2.44–$2.84 EPS, and reported strong profitability (net margin 27.78%, ROE 37.52%).
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.53 (annualized $2.12, ~0.5% yield), while insiders have recently sold shares and institutional investors own about 80.6% of the stock.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 3.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $396.01 and last traded at $394.49. 7,002,483 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 7,240,734 shares. The stock had previously closed at $382.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AMAT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group set a $430.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an "outperform" rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $368.29.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company's 50-day moving average price is $368.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.33. The company has a market cap of $313.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following 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. Insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,674 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 26.7% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Forefront Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in Applied Materials by 30.1% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 15,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Applied Materials by 59.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 422,694 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $77,383,000 after purchasing an additional 157,426 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

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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