Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 1.9% – What’s Next?

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s share price was down 1.9% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $491.83 and last traded at $497.53. Approximately 4,130,632 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 7,848,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $507.03.

Key Stories 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 set a $600 price target, while the average Wall Street target implies approximately 39% potential upside. Analysts also point to positive earnings-estimate revisions. Wall Street analyst price targets
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials’ investor-day strategy calls for gaining more than two percentage points of semiconductor-equipment market share by 2030, expanding eBeam equipment revenue to $2 billion in 2026, and growing semiconductor-services revenue above $12 billion by 2030. Applied Materials growth targets
• Positive Sentiment: The company unveiled its approximately $5 billion EPIC Center in Silicon Valley, with partners including Intel, Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung, to accelerate AI-chip process development and commercialization. Applied Ventures also invested in Flexcompute’s physics-based AI modeling platform to speed semiconductor R&D. EPIC Center announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Materials recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.50 in EPS on $9.12 billion of revenue, with revenue up 24.8% year over year. However, its valuation near 39 times earnings leaves the shares sensitive to any slowdown in AI or semiconductor spending.
• Negative Sentiment: The immediate catalyst for the decline was investor disappointment with the clarity and scale of the company’s 2030 outlook. Although management described the targets as conservative, investors may have expected more aggressive growth, margin or hiring details, creating uncertainty around the payoff from the EPIC investment. Applied Materials 2030 guidance analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Semiconductor-equipment stocks broadly sold off as investors took profits after a strong AI-driven run, while weakness in Asian markets and concerns about chip-sector momentum added pressure to AMAT. Semiconductor equipment sector selloff

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AMAT. Evercore upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $515.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. New Street Research lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $580.00 to $525.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 14th. William Blair began coverage on Applied Materials in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on Applied Materials from $675.00 to $695.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Applied Materials from $645.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $640.20.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $354.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $484.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79.

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

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Materials news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total value of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares in the company, valued at $1,732,245.36. This represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,225 shares of company stock worth $4,454,181. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harborfront Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $33,000. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

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.