William Blair Lifts Earnings Estimates for Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) – Analysts at William Blair boosted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Applied Materials in a research note issued to investors on Friday, May 16th. William Blair analyst J. Dorsheimer now forecasts that the manufacturing equipment provider will post earnings per share of $9.52 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $9.51. The consensus estimate for Applied Materials’ current full-year earnings is $9.38 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Applied Materials’ Q4 2025 earnings at $2.40 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.26 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.40 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.53 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. B. Riley reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $250.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Applied Materials from $164.00 to $162.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Mizuho cut their target price on Applied Materials from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Applied Materials from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.48.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Applied Materials stock opened at $165.57 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 2.67. Applied Materials has a one year low of $123.74 and a one year high of $255.89.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.50% and a net margin of 22.95%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Applied Materials by 972.2% during the first quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 193 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Materials during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in Applied Materials by 435.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 214 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Adam Sanders sold 271 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.72, for a total transaction of $46,807.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,119,052.88. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary E. Dickerson bought 50,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $137.30 per share, with a total value of $6,865,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,716,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $235,614,763.40. The trade was a 3.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, March 10th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the manufacturing equipment provider to repurchase up to 8.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This is a boost from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

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.