Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $432.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Applied Materials traded as high as $395.95 and last traded at $395.0360, with a volume of 9726145 shares. The stock had previously closed at $377.93.

AMAT has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $350.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Applied Materials from $340.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $363.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 3,969 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.02, for a total transaction of $1,496,392.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,778,624.78. This trade represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Brice Hill sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.21, for a total transaction of $1,806,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 138,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,051,063.65. This trade represents a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,112 shares of company stock worth $3,660,532. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Materials

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

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly beat, stronger outlook and product roadmap — AMAT reported Q1 results above expectations, issued solid Q2 guidance and flagged new transistor/materials engineering systems aimed at 2nm-and-beyond chips; management also announced a ~$252.5M export deal that supports near-term revenue visibility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher targets — Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $432 with an “overweight” rating (higher upside vs. the current level), adding to a wave of bullish target increases from other brokers that lift sentiment. Article
• Positive Sentiment: AI/HBM-driven demand and positioning — Coverage highlights AMAT’s central role in tools for deposition/film and advanced packaging as AI and HBM demand sustain bookings and backlog visibility, underpinning margins and long-term growth expectations. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational/PR wins — Applied recognized supplier partners with Supplier Excellence Awards (positive for supply chain resilience but unlikely to move near-term revenue materially). Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Market risk-on environment — Semicon-equipment names got a lift from a broader risk-on session (S&P/Nasdaq strength) that amplified AMAT’s earnings-driven rally. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest note is ambiguous — A recent short-interest entry shows zero/NaN values and no meaningful short-days cover signal; it isn’t providing a clear opposite pressure to the rally. (Data entry appears unreliable.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Recent Form 4 filings show CAO Adam Sanders and Director Judy Bruner sold shares (reducing holdings ~10–12%), which can weigh on near‑term sentiment even if the sales may be routine diversification. CAO Adam Sanders Form 4 Director Judy Bruner Form 4

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Applied Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Materials by 150.0% during the third quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 125 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Applied Materials Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $313.50 billion, a PE ratio of 40.43, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $312.54 and its 200 day moving average is $247.33.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.17. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 37.52% and a net margin of 27.78%.The business had revenue of $7.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Applied Materials has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.440-2.840 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.