Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Price Target Raised to $350.00

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $300.00 to $350.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on AMAT. Susquehanna raised shares of Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Sunday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, January 9th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.86.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $319.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.61. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $123.74 and a 52 week high of $331.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $253.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $259.46 and a 200-day moving average of $216.77.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 24.67%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.32 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total value of $155,617.77. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This represents a 12.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of Applied Materials 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 8,609 shares of company stock valued at $2,044,898 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 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: TSMC’s blowout quarter (strong profit growth and sustained capex) lifted confidence in industry-wide wafer fab spending, directly benefiting semiconductor equipment suppliers like Applied Materials. Chip stocks pop after TSMC’s earnings beat boosts confidence in industrywide demand
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded AMAT citing accelerating AI-driven equipment spending—an explicit buy-side signal that major customers may increase orders for tools AMAT sells. Applied Materials surges after Barclays upgrade stock on AI spending
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple street upgrades and higher targets (Stifel, RBC initiation) were highlighted, raising analyst price targets and reinforcing buy-side conviction in AMAT’s market position and valuation gap to peers. Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock: Wall Street Upgrades Signal Confidence in Chip Equipment Leader
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage (Barron’s) ties TSMC’s heavy spending to gains for ASML, Lam and Applied — reinforcing the narrative that vendor revenue should rise as fabs expand capacity. ASML, Lam Research, Applied Materials Surge. Why Chip Stocks Are Getting a Boost.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America’s bullish note (covered by AmericanBankingNews) projects strong price appreciation for AMAT, adding institutional support to the rally. Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights AMAT’s HBM (hybrid bonding) business hitting $1.5B in FY25 and management’s target to double that—signaling a concrete growth runway beyond cyclicality. Applied Materials FY25 HBM Revenues Hit $1.5B: A New Growth Driver?
• Neutral Sentiment: Benzinga and other analyst-roundup pieces summarize broad analyst coverage (23 analysts) — useful for sentiment but largely a consolidation of the upgrades rather than new catalyst news. A Glimpse Into The Expert Outlook On Applied Materials Through 23 Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional commentary pieces (MSN, Zacks growth write-up) explain the breakout and long-term growth thesis but do not add new fundamental data. AMAT stock is breaking out – here’s what changed

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.