Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Oct 17th, 2026

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on AMAT. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $575.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Applied Materials in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus set a $600.00 price target on shares of Applied Materials and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Thirty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $632.70.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Applied Materials

Applied Materials Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of AMAT stock traded down $20.72 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $409.29. The company had a trading volume of 8,533,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,720,239. Applied Materials has a 12 month low of $203.40 and a 12 month high of $739.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $485.08. The company has a market cap of $324.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.60.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.10. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 38.02% and a net margin of 30.05%. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 3.820-4.220 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

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

Institutional Trading of Applied Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Materials by 1.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 80,212,518 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $57,993,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,685 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 32,018,892 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 7,808,207 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock worth $5,645,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246,876 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 16.2% in 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 period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Applied Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,252,863,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Materials News

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

Positive Sentiment: Applied Materials opened its $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, California, described as the world’s largest semiconductor equipment and process-technology research facility. The investment should strengthen the company’s ability to develop equipment for advanced chips and capitalize on long-term AI and semiconductor capacity growth. Applied Materials opens $5B semiconductor innovation center
Positive Sentiment: Needham lowered its Applied Materials price target from $740 to $580 but maintained a “buy” rating, indicating that the recent pullback has created what the firm considers meaningful upside. Other recent commentary also highlights AMAT’s broad equipment portfolio and strategic position in semiconductor manufacturing.
Positive Sentiment: Investors are evaluating whether the current decline could offer an attractive entry point. Historical rebounds after sharp selloffs, continued semiconductor capacity expansion, and expectations for a sales recovery support the longer-term bullish case. Has Buying Applied Materials Stock’s Dips Paid Off?
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary is mixed: some reports identify Applied Materials as a growth-at-a-reasonable-price opportunity, while others present a more cautious view of technology stocks. ETF activity has also been inconsistent, with 31 funds adding AMAT on October 13 but ETFs collectively selling shares on October 14.
Negative Sentiment: Chip-equipment stocks are recording unusually long losing streaks as investors question whether AI-related spending can continue at its current pace. Those sector-wide concerns are currently outweighing the potential benefits of the new research center and are contributing to AMAT’s decline. Chip Equipment Stocks Notch Historic Losing Streaks

About Applied Materials

(Get Free Report)

Applied Materials, Inc is a global supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat-panel displays and other advanced electronic products. Its technologies help customers build and enhance materials at the nanoscale, supporting processes such as deposition, etching, inspection, metrology and packaging.

The company’s offerings include semiconductor manufacturing systems, process-control and inspection equipment, and services designed to improve the performance, productivity and longevity of production equipment.