FY2026 Earnings Forecast for AMAT Issued By Erste Group Bank

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) – Stock analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Applied Materials in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, July 15th. Erste Group Bank analyst S. Lingnau now expects that the manufacturing equipment provider will earn $12.29 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $12.23. Erste Group Bank currently has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Applied Materials’ current full-year earnings is $12.14 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Applied Materials’ FY2027 earnings at $17.02 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMAT. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $550.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $517.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $500.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $570.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.84.

Applied Materials Stock Down 5.6%

AMAT stock opened at $529.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $420.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.57. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $154.46 and a twelve month high of $739.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $533.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $599.77, for a total value of $5,547,872.50. Following the sale, the director owned 40,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,326,071.43. This represents a 18.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 356,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,204,069.76. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 278,088 shares of company stock worth $169,654,805 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Applied Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $19,731,523,000 after acquiring an additional 330,197 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,858,543,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 10,688,232 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,746,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings estimates for Applied Materials and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling confidence in the company’s growth outlook and AI-driven demand.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials CEO comments reinforcing the AI investment thesis may help support longer-term sentiment around the stock. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks noted that AMAT has been drawing increased attention from investors, but the piece was mainly a stock-screening update rather than a new fundamental catalyst. Article link
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary suggested Applied Materials may be trading above fair value after a strong multi-year run, which could limit upside even if earnings remain solid. Article link
• Negative Sentiment: A broad semiconductor selloff is pressuring AMAT along with peers like AMD and Intel, as the market rotates out of chip stocks and into other areas. Article link

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.