Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Upgraded by DZ Bank to Hold Rating

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) was upgraded by DZ Bank to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $430.00 price objective on Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $315.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Craig Hallum reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.04.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMAT opened at $359.13 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $298.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.54. The firm has a market cap of $285.05 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials has a fifty-two week low of $123.74 and a fifty-two week high of $376.32.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.24, for a total value of $952,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMAT. Align Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $1,321,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP grew its stake in Applied Materials by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 54,456 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $13,995,000 after buying an additional 15,547 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in Applied Materials by 292.6% in the 4th quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 850,534 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $218,579,000 after buying an additional 633,882 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Finally, Coatue Management LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 78.7% in the 4th quarter. Coatue Management LLC now owns 5,984,332 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,537,913,000 after buying an additional 2,635,284 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 / fiscal Q1 results beat expectations and management gave aggressive forward guidance (CEO projected ~20% calendar‑year revenue growth and raised Q2 outlook), which sparked the rally. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several firms bumped up price targets and ratings after the results — notable raises reported (Needham and others), backing upside to current consensus and supporting further upside momentum. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are increasingly framing AMAT as a primary beneficiary of the AI-driven “Giga‑cycle”; TD Cowen and other shops have raised targets (e.g., Cowen to ~$450), reinforcing buy‑side conviction. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry coverage highlights AMAT’s leadership among equipment suppliers in the current multi‑year chip investment wave — a positive thematic tailwind but already largely priced into many forecasts. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management scheduled investor conference appearances/fireside chats — useful for additional color on demand and margin trajectory but not an immediate catalyst on its own. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Published short‑interest reports show anomalous “0 shares / NaN” figures for mid‑February — appears to be a data error and does not indicate a meaningful short squeeze. Investors should rely on standard data sources for positioning metrics. (data entries)

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.