Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) fell 3% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $567.65 and last traded at $568.23. 10,553,746 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 39% from the average session volume of 7,583,215 shares. The stock had previously closed at $585.78.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials announced a long-term joint development deal with EssilorLuxottica to accelerate augmented reality optics and AI-powered smart glasses, opening a new growth avenue beyond traditional chip equipment demand. Article: EssilorLuxottica and Applied Materials Join Forces to Advance Augmented Reality Optics Platforms for Next-Generation Smart Glasses
• Positive Sentiment: The company also unveiled new deposition and selective etch systems aimed at advancing 3D chip scaling, which could support AI chip manufacturing demand and reinforce its leadership in semiconductor equipment. Article: Applied Materials Unveils Deposition and Selective Etch Systems to Advance 3D Chip Scaling
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials has also been helped by higher price targets from analysts, including Barclays, which raised its target and kept an Overweight rating, signaling continued confidence in wafer fab equipment spending. Article: Applied Materials (AMAT) Gets Higher Price Targets from Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald
• Neutral Sentiment: Several commentary pieces point to the stock’s strong recent run and suggest it may be extended after a sharp rebound, which could lead to near-term volatility as traders debate whether the move is sustainable. Article: Buy, Hold, or Sell: Applied Materials Surged Right Back Toward $500 Following a Brutal June Flush. Here’s Where I’d Buy
• Negative Sentiment: One Seeking Alpha headline says Applied Materials’ valuation tops the dot-com peak, which may weigh on shares by reinforcing concerns that the stock is trading at a stretched valuation after its big rally. Article: Applied Materials valuation tops dot-com peak

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMAT. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Applied Materials from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. DZ Bank upgraded Applied Materials to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Applied Materials from $415.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Twenty-seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $483.03.

Applied Materials Stock Down 3.0%

The company has a market capitalization of $451.15 billion, a PE ratio of 53.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $431.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $355.90.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 36.97% and a net margin of 29.31%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Brice Hill sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.86, for a total value of $1,247,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 136,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,901,331.18. This represents a 1.80% 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, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.28, for a total value of $25,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 356,642 shares in the company, valued at $180,204,069.76. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,896 shares of company stock valued at $27,135,121. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 0.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 330,197 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 119.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 17,829,377 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 40.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,520,114 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,563,376,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583,751 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Applied Materials by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,470,835 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $2,947,891,000 after purchasing an additional 373,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter worth $2,858,543,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.