William Blair Issues Optimistic Outlook for AMAT Earnings

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) – Stock analysts at William Blair boosted their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Applied Materials in a research note issued on Friday, November 15th. William Blair analyst J. Dorsheimer now expects that the manufacturing equipment provider will post earnings per share of $2.29 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate 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.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.96 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 39.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share.

AMAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $300.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Applied Materials from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.81.

Applied Materials Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $168.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $139.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.87. Applied Materials has a twelve month low of $141.94 and a twelve month high of $255.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Applied Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 854 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 4,814 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $993,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 11,968 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,561,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.