Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Up 4.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Applied Materials shares rose 4.9% after Argus lifted its price target from $420 to $500 and kept a buy rating on the stock.
• Several other analysts also turned more bullish, with price targets raised by firms including Barclays, Goldman Sachs, B. Riley, Stifel, and TD Cowen. The stock now has a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $465.14.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, posted 11.4% year-over-year revenue growth, and increased its quarterly dividend from $0.46 to $0.53 per share.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 4.9% during trading on Wednesday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $500.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $427.50 and last traded at $426.85. 6,865,496 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 7,393,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $406.91.

AMAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $465.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 7,003 shares of company stock worth $2,678,139 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials announced that Broadcom will join its EPIC platform as an innovation partner, expanding collaboration on advanced packaging technologies for next-generation AI chips and systems. The deal reinforces AMAT’s role in AI hardware buildout and could support longer-term equipment demand. Applied Materials Announces Broadcom as EPIC Innovation Partner
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports highlighted strong operating leverage at Applied Materials, with AI demand, premium chip tools and recurring services pushing margins to a multi-decade high. That suggests improving profitability as spending on advanced chips rises. Applied Materials Gains From Rising Operating Leverage: What's Ahead?
• Positive Sentiment: AMAT also landed on Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) momentum-stock lists, and multiple articles pointed to continued upside from recent earnings beats, estimate revisions, and AI spending trends. That kind of momentum coverage can keep investor interest elevated. Best Momentum Stocks to Buy for May 20th
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials received a Supplier Excellence Award from a supplier partner, which is a positive operational signal but likely has limited direct impact on the stock. Applied Energy Systems Receives Supplier Excellence Award from Applied Materials
• Negative Sentiment: At the same time, AMAT was mentioned in a broader semiconductor sell-off tied to concerns about a potential Samsung strike and a TSMC stake sale, which raised supply-chain worries across chip stocks. That sector pressure may weigh on shares even when company fundamentals look strong. MACOM, Applied Materials, and Photronics Shares Are Falling, What You Need To Know

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted 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 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. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $338.75 billion, a PE ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $382.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.58.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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