JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Price

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) had its target price cut by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $660.00 to $500.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 35.37% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Applied Materials from $695.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Applied Materials from $650.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $770.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Evercore set a $590.00 target price on Applied Materials in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Twenty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $589.23.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

Shares of AMAT traded down $11.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $369.37. 6,322,878 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,920,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.42. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $439.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $445.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.67. Applied Materials has a 1-year low of $203.40 and a 1-year high of $739.67.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 12th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $10.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.30 billion. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 EPS. Applied Materials has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 4.150-4.550 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 1,000 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $465.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,877,960. This trade represents a 3.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $544.56, for a total transaction of $394,806.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,732,245.36. This trade represents a 18.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 9,225 shares of company stock valued at $4,454,181 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $57,993,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,685 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 85.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 69,525,842 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $50,267,184,000 after buying an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in Applied Materials by 19.0% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,713,599 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,576,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,252,863,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Materials News Roundup

These are some of the AMAT news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Fiscal Q4 revenue reached a record $10.41 billion, up 53% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS rose 92% to $4.16; both exceeded analyst estimates. Management also forecast Q1 revenue of $10.6 billion–$11.6 billion, above consensus. Applied Materials Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: AI-driven demand supports the outlook: Applied expects Semiconductor Systems growth above 40% in calendar 2026 and sees chip-equipment market growth exceeding 30% in 2027. The company returned $2.42 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks in Q4. AI demand and growth outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple analysts cut price targets after the report, citing sector multiple compression, even as most retained Buy or Overweight ratings. Summit Insights downgraded AMAT to Hold. The target reductions and broader chip-equipment selloff are weighing on sentiment despite the beat-and-raise results. Analyst target cuts

Applied Materials Company Profile

Applied Materials, Inc. develops and supplies equipment, software and services used to manufacture semiconductors and advanced displays. Its technologies help customers build and process materials at the microscopic scale required for chips and other electronic products. The company’s offerings include systems for depositing, removing and modifying materials, as well as inspection, measurement and process-control tools. It also provides equipment and services for advanced semiconductor packaging and supports customers with maintenance, upgrades and manufacturing software.