William Blair Issues Optimistic Outlook for AMAT Earnings

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) – Stock analysts at William Blair lifted their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Applied Materials in a research note issued on Friday, November 15th. William Blair analyst J. Dorsheimer now anticipates that the manufacturing equipment provider will post earnings per share of $2.29 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.21. The consensus estimate for Applied Materials’ current full-year earnings is $9.52 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Applied Materials’ Q2 2025 earnings at $2.32 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.36 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.47 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.51 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.58 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.71 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.27 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AMAT. Mizuho decreased their price target on Applied Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $240.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT opened at $169.31 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. Applied Materials has a 52 week low of $144.57 and a 52 week high of $255.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $190.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.51.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMAT. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 7.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 854 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 4,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Applied Materials by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 71,659 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $14,778,000 after buying an additional 11,968 shares in the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the first quarter worth about $18,561,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 18.58%.

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. The company operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. The Semiconductor Systems segment develops, manufactures, and sells various manufacturing equipment that is used to fabricate semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.