Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts AMAT FY2026 Earnings

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald issued their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Applied Materials in a research report issued on Monday, June 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C. Muse expects that the manufacturing equipment provider will post earnings of $10.55 per share for the year. Cantor Fitzgerald has a "Overweight" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Applied Materials' current full-year earnings is $9.38 per share.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 22.95% and a return on equity of 39.50%. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Applied Materials from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $162.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday. Edward Jones upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

AMAT stock traded up $3.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $173.77. 5,709,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,958,135. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $152.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.07. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Applied Materials by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,039,667 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $12,528,961,000 after acquiring an additional 487,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,079,451 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $3,260,178,000 after purchasing an additional 253,078 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,230,464 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock valued at $1,663,780,000 after buying an additional 1,602,645 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,588,422,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,338,520 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider's stock worth $1,356,094,000 after buying an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.83, for a total value of $65,173.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $880,131.91. This trade represents a 6.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. This represents a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Applied Materials announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, March 10th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the manufacturing equipment provider to reacquire up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Applied Materials's payout ratio is 22.38%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.