Royal Bank Of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $385.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.28% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AMAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $390.00 in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho set a $370.00 price objective on Applied Materials and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $273.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $315.15.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $339.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $292.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $344.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.06. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total transaction of $952,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock worth $2,044,898 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. IFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1,008.1% in the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 36,156 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $6,619,000 after acquiring an additional 32,893 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,511 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,397 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 23.0% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,643 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion boosted its position in Applied Materials by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 113,221 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $18,924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,468 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in Applied Materials by 13,360.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 694,431 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $127,129,000 after buying an additional 689,272 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: New 2nm/GAA toolset announced — Applied rolled out Viva (radical treatment), Sym3™ Z Magnum (etch) and Spectral™ ALD (molybdenum contacts) systems that target performance and energy gains for 2nm-class AI chips; these tools are already being adopted by leading foundries, which supports AMAT’s near-term revenue and long-term competitive moat. Applied Materials Unveils Transistor and Wiring Innovations
• Positive Sentiment: Samsung joins AMAT’s $5B EPIC Center — Samsung Electronics will join the new Silicon Valley EPIC R&D center, validating demand for collaborative process/tool development and increasing the chance of multi-year equipment engagements. Samsung Joins EPIC Center
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and price-target upside — RBC reaffirmed an Outperform at $385 and multiple houses maintain buy/overweight calls and elevated median targets (~$350+), which can sustain buying interest. Analyst Rating/Reaffirmation
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 expectations bullish — Earnings previews (Zacks, Seeking Alpha) and option-market commentary show expectations for AI-driven strength across WFE, DRAM/NAND and displays, supporting upside to near-term revenue/earnings. Q1 Earnings Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data noisy — January showed a meaningful decline in shares sold short (~13.7M, down ~14.6%), which is supportive, but Feb reporting entries contain zero/NaN figures that look like reporting errors and should be treated cautiously.
• Neutral Sentiment: Options/volatility positioning — Traders expect a sizable post-earnings move (Investopedia coverage), which can amplify intraday swings but doesn’t indicate direction until results and guidance land. Post-Earnings Options Expectations
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and “orders matter” caveat — Coverage notes the rally has stretched valuation and that follow-through depends on orders and bookings; if guidance or orders disappoint, the stock could correct quickly. Valuation/Orders Risk
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider sales flagged — Public filings show insider sales activity in the past six months, which some investors may view as a minor negative signal amid stretched multiples. (source: Quiver/press summaries)

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.