Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Up 2.8% – Here’s Why

Shares of Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) traded up 2.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $374.00 and last traded at $369.30. 8,595,497 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 8,473,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $359.13.

More Applied Materials News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Management’s strong post‑earnings guidance and reported beat — investors are pricing in a multi‑year growth cycle after AMAT topped Q1 estimates and management signaled robust 2026 revenue growth and strong Q2 revenue guidance. 3 Under-the-Radar Earnings Surprises Could Signal a New Trend (AMAT)
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call option flow — traders bought ~97,138 call contracts (≈231% above typical daily call volume), a near‑term technical/positioning catalyst that often precedes upward stock moves as market makers hedge by buying shares. (Options flow report)
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and upward estimate revisions — Zacks upgraded AMAT to a Strong Buy and multiple note writers have raised earnings estimates, supporting momentum and higher price targets. Applied Materials (AMAT) Upgraded to Strong Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street bullishness / price target lifts — selective analysts (coverage cited in recent writeups) have raised targets (one note highlighted a $450 target), reinforcing the upside narrative tied to AI-driven equipment demand. Applied Materials Seen Winning (Yahoo/InsiderMonkey)
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor engagement — management will appear at upcoming investor conferences (visibility can help sustain momentum but is informational rather than catalytic). Applied Materials to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst commentary — some articles note “conflicting sentiments” across technology coverage (different time horizons/assumptions), so expect divergent views even amid the bullish trend. Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments (Globe & Mail)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears anomalous (reported as 0 shares / NaN changes) — treat that as noisy or reporting error rather than a meaningful short squeeze signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Some broker notes are more conservative — a recent DZ Bank move to a “Hold” reminds investors there remains analyst dispersion; not all shops are upgrading simultaneously. DZ Bank upgrade to Hold (TickerReport)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $390.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KGI Securities upgraded Applied Materials to an “outperform” rating and set a $425.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $363.04.

Applied Materials Trading Up 2.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a market cap of $293.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $298.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.54.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.83%.

Insider Transactions at Applied Materials

In related news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 609 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.53, for a total transaction of $155,617.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,127,653.89. This trade represents a 12.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Teri A. Little sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 84,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,095,782.24. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Materials

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corecam AG purchased a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $293,000. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 64,548 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $16,588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 23,258 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,977,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 299,164 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $76,882,000 after acquiring an additional 11,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,930,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.