Applied Materials’ (AMAT) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $385.00 price target on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $260.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, January 12th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $285.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Susquehanna raised Applied Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $400.00 in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.15.

Applied Materials Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ AMAT opened at $328.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.87. Applied Materials has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $344.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 24.67% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 84,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. The trade was a 12.13% 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 worth $2,044,898 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,779,340 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $19,731,523,000 after buying an additional 330,197 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,920,984 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,125,265,000 after buying an additional 391,540 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Applied Materials by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after buying an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,026,363 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,836,807,000 after acquiring an additional 407,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 72.5% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 13,564,120 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,483,183,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,349 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings and revenue beat — AMAT reported $2.38 EPS and $7.01B revenue, topping consensus and demonstrating healthy margins and profitability that underpin investor confidence. Applied Materials (AMAT) Beats Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong forward guidance — management set Q2 FY2026 EPS guidance (2.440–2.840) and revenue targets above Street expectations, signaling continued demand for semiconductor equipment driven by AI processors. This guidance is the key driver of the after?hours rally. Applied Materials forecasts second-quarter sales above estimates
• Positive Sentiment: AI and industry positioning — analysts and commentary point to accelerating AI/HPC capex (DRAM, advanced logic, packaging) and recurring service revenue as structural growth drivers; several firms have raised targets and reiterated Buy ratings ahead of the print. How to Read Applied Materials Earnings: What Signals Move the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic partnerships — Samsung agreed to join AMAT’s new $5B EPIC R&D center, reinforcing customer relationships and R&D scale that support long-term demand and product leadership. Applied Materials Announces Samsung Electronics Will Join the New, Multibillion-Dollar EPIC Center
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory closure reduces uncertainty — the DOJ and SEC have closed related investigations without action, which removes a material legal overhang and clarifies near-term risk. That reduced uncertainty likely helped investor reaction even though a settlement was paid. Applied Materials Announces First Quarter 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: $252.5M export settlement — AMAT agreed to pay $252.5M to the U.S. Department of Commerce to resolve alleged export-control violations for certain shipments to China (Nov 2020–Jul 2022). The payment is a one?time hit and raises compliance/controls questions, though management frames the resolution as in shareholders’ best interest. Applied Materials to pay $252 million to resolve illegal chip exports, US says

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.