Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Trading Down 1.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Applied Materials shares fell 1.7% on Monday, trading as low as $591.68 and closing at $592.79, with volume slightly above average.
• Analysts remain upbeat overall despite the dip, with several firms raising price targets recently, including Morgan Stanley to $647 and Susquehanna to $900; the stock still carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating.
• The company posted solid fundamentals in its latest quarter, beating EPS and revenue estimates, raising Q3 guidance, and announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) was down 1.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $591.68 and last traded at $592.79. Approximately 8,563,149 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 3% from the average daily volume of 8,288,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $603.04.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reportedly raised its price target on Applied Materials to $645, helping fuel a semiconductor rally and reinforcing bullish sentiment around the stock. 2 Chip Stocks Driving Today's Rally With Lofty Bull Notes
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lifted its price target on AMAT from $502 to $647, signaling improved expectations even though the firm kept an “equal weight” rating. Read More
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials unveiled its AI-powered SENZ platform, designed to speed development of smart glasses by integrating optics, light engines, vision correction, and dimming into one system, which supports the company’s AI growth narrative. Applied Materials (AMAT) Unveils AI-Powered SENZ Platform to Accelerate Smart Glasses Development
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Applied Materials as part of the AI infrastructure “picks and shovels” trade is reinforcing investor interest in the stock. Millennium-Backed Trader Gains 61% With Bets on AI Backbone
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent articles show AMAT is drawing heavier trading attention and being discussed as a trending stock, which can add momentum but does not by itself change fundamentals. Is Trending Stock Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) a Buy Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor commentary noted Applied Materials advanced strongly in the prior quarter, supporting the view that the stock’s recent momentum is already well established. Applied Materials (AMAT) Advanced 33% in Q1

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC began coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $517.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial set a $575.00 target price on Applied Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Applied Materials from $502.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $558.09.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $499.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $391.80. 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 capitalization of $470.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.66, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.57.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. Applied Materials's revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $735.22, for a total transaction of $14,704,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,599,843 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,176,236,570.46. This represents a 1.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock valued at $169,654,805 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hobart Private Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $289,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.1% during the second quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the second quarter valued at about $384,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 235 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company's stock.

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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