JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its price objective boosted by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $400.00 to $515.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 17.88% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price objective (up from $415.00) on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $454.00 to $502.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $431.34.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

AMAT stock traded down $3.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $436.89. The company had a trading volume of 5,940,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,298,613. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $377.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.62. The company has a market cap of $346.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $153.47 and a twelve month high of $448.45.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.39 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 11.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In related news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,089 shares in the company, valued at $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van Diest Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 199.1% in the 1st quarter. Van Diest Capital LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after purchasing an additional 7,544 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA grew its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 0.8% during the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 47,470 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $16,225,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Mustico Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 9.5% in the first quarter. Mustico Financial Group Inc. now owns 991 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 94.2% in the first quarter. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC now owns 96,976 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,145,000 after buying an additional 47,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dempze Nancy E raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 5.6% in the first quarter. Dempze Nancy E now owns 12,608 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its price target on Applied Materials to $500 from $410 and kept an outperform rating, pointing to meaningful upside after the strong results. Mizuho raises Applied Materials target
• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp, Morgan Stanley, Needham, and other firms also boosted targets and maintained bullish ratings, signaling growing confidence in Applied Materials’ earnings power and AI exposure. Analysts boost forecasts after results
• Positive Sentiment: The company reported fiscal Q2 earnings of $2.86 per share on revenue of $7.91 billion, both above expectations, and guided Q3 EPS and revenue above Wall Street estimates. Applied Materials beats Q2 estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary highlighted record margins and continued AI infrastructure demand, which is helping investors look past softer China-related demand concerns. AI demand boosts margins
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader market weakness and higher oil prices/Treasury yields weighed on AI and chip-related stocks in early trading, which may be contributing to intraday volatility in AMAT. Market pressure on chip stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports noted that AMAT slipped in premarket despite the strong quarter, reflecting investor caution after a big run-up and possible profit-taking. AMAT slips despite record quarter

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.