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

DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AMAT. Summit Insights raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Applied Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $470.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Twenty-seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $363.04.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $359.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.70. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $123.74 and a 12-month high of $376.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $298.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.83%.

Insider Activity

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Applied Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $1,321,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.0% in 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 during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 292.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $289,000. Finally, Coatue Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 78.7% during 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 during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials News Roundup

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.