Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $412.00 and last traded at $410.46, with a volume of 534965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $403.48.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jim Cramer publicly called AMAT “a great buy,” joining other bullish media notes that are driving retail and momentum interest ahead of semiconductor earnings season. Jim Cramer on Applied Materials
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish investor write-ups (summarized on InsiderMonkey/Yahoo) highlight AMAT’s strong positioning in AI/HPC fabs, healthy margins and recurring equipment demand—supporting optimism on revenue durability and multiple expansion. Is Applied Materials a Good Stock to Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Applied joined Tesla’s Terafab initiative, which could translate into longer-term equipment orders if the project scales—a potential new end-market for AMAT’s materials-engineering tools. Applied Materials Joins Tesla Terafab
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied and Advantest deepened integration on the EPIC platform to better tie wafer fab processes to automated testing—strategic for AI/HPC chip flow but with commercial impact to be realized over time. Applied Materials Deepens Chip Test Links
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied scheduled its fiscal Q2 2026 earnings call for May 14; investors are focusing on guidance and orders, so the upcoming print is a likely near-term catalyst. Applied Materials to Report Fiscal Q2 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and opinion pieces warn that AMAT’s valuation is rich vs. historicals and peers, which raises downside risk if growth or guidance disappoints. Is Applied Materials a Good Stock to Buy Now?
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Micron-led lobbying for tighter export controls (MATCH Act) could increase restrictions on sales of advanced chipmaking equipment to China, which would directly affect AMAT’s addressable market and order cadence. Micron Pushes Congress on Export Restrictions

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AMAT. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Summit Insights upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $368.29.

Applied Materials Price Performance

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 has a market capitalization of $323.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.82, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $363.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.99.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.88 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.1 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 21.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares in the company, valued at $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 12,003 shares of company stock worth $4,484,189 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.3% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,031 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 2,208 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 1,298 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.