Applied Materials’ (AMAT) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank Of Canada

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $600.00 target price on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 32.85% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AMAT. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Argus set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $710.00 price objective (up from $550.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $640.20.

Applied Materials Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $12.59 on Wednesday, hitting $451.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,159,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,833,669. Applied Materials has a 52-week low of $203.40 and a 52-week high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $486.82 and its 200-day moving average is $484.20.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,732,245.36. The trade was a 18.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 4.3% during the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 409 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Innovative Asset Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 2.1% during the second quarter. Innovative Asset Advisors Group LLC now owns 961 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $695,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Applied Materials by 5.9% during the second quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 377 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Materials by 13.0% during the second quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 183 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its “outperform” rating and assigned a $600 price target. The broader analyst consensus implies roughly 39% upside, supported by improving earnings estimates. Analyst price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials highlighted sustained AI-driven wafer-fabrication demand, ambitions to gain more than two percentage points of market share by 2030, eBeam revenue of approximately $2 billion in 2026, and semiconductor-services revenue above $12 billion by 2030. Applied Materials growth outlook
• Positive Sentiment: The $5 billion EPIC research center, partnerships with major chipmakers, and Applied Ventures’ investment in Flexcompute could accelerate chip-development cycles and strengthen Applied’s strategic position in AI semiconductors. EPIC Center announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The company reportedly delivered its fifth consecutive earnings beat, reinforcing operational execution, but the stock’s premium valuation—around 39 times earnings—leaves less room for disappointing guidance.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors reacted negatively to what was viewed as uncertain 2030 guidance and insufficient detail during Investor Day, overshadowing the company’s long-term growth initiatives. Investor Day guidance reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor-equipment shares sold off broadly amid profit-taking and weakness in global technology stocks, adding sector-level pressure to AMAT. Semiconductor equipment sector selloff

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company’s offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.