Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) rose 1.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $440.50 and last traded at $436.61. Approximately 6,979,900 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 7,197,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $431.20.

Applied Materials News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials posted record Q2 results, beating EPS and revenue expectations and lifting its outlook, with management citing strong AI infrastructure spending as a key growth driver. Applied Materials Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street turned more bullish after the report, with multiple firms raising price targets, including Bank of America, JPMorgan, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Needham, and KeyCorp, reinforcing confidence in multi-year earnings growth. Applied Materials Sees Multi-Year AI Boom Driving Record Revenue And Growth Through 2028
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts highlighted a durable AI-driven semiconductor upcycle, suggesting Applied Materials could sustain elevated demand and margins through 2027-2028. Krish Sankar Reaffirms Buy on Applied Materials
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader market backdrop is weaker, with major indexes down as Treasury yields and oil prices rise, which is adding headwinds for high-valuation tech and AI stocks. Stock Market Today: Dow Falls As Oil Prices, Yields Jump; Applied Materials, Nvidia, Cerebras Slide
• Negative Sentiment: Even with the strong earnings report, the stock is slipping as investors rotate out after a sharp year-to-date rally, showing some concern that expectations may already be very high. Applied Materials slips despite record quarter and strong outlook (AMAT)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AMAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $530.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $465.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Seaport Research Partners assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Monday, May 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $530.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Twenty-eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $454.79.

Applied Materials Trading Down 0.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $346.51 billion, a PE ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $377.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.78% and a return on equity of 37.52%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 11.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.53 dividend. This is a positive change from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is presently 18.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Materials news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. The trade was a 8.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total transaction of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,753,615. This represents a 10.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,003 shares of company stock valued at $4,484,189. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMAT. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Applied Materials by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 32,707,049 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $8,405,458,000 after acquiring an additional 17,829,377 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Applied Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $2,858,543,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 617.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,129,483 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,869,170,000 after purchasing an additional 7,856,576 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 40.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares during the period. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Applied Materials by 25,824.4% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 3,370,167 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $86,610,000 after purchasing an additional 3,357,167 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Materials

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.