B. Riley Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial raised its target on Applied Materials to $485 from $450 and maintains a "buy" rating, implying roughly a 23.8% upside from the current share price.
• Applied Materials beat Q1 estimates (EPS $2.38 vs. $2.21; revenue $7.01B vs. $6.88B) and set Q2 2026 guidance of $2.44–$2.84 EPS, with shares trading around $391.75 and a market cap near $311B.
• Insiders have been selling: Director Judy Bruner and CFO Brice Hill recently sold shares, and insiders disposed of 12,003 shares (~$4.48M) over the past three months, while institutional investors own about 80.6% of the stock.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at B. Riley Financial from $450.00 to $485.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the manufacturing equipment provider's stock. B. Riley Financial's price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.80% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AMAT. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $425.00 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 target for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $432.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $368.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $7.74 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $391.75. 2,174,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,462,918. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $351.86 and a 200 day moving average of $289.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $132.80 and a 52-week high of $407.29. The company has a market cap of $310.90 billion, a PE ratio of 40.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.64.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The company'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. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its position in Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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