Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $2.00-2.36 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.14. The company issued revenue guidance of $6.53-7.33 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $6.92 billion. Applied Materials also updated its Q4 2024 guidance to 2.000-2.360 EPS.

Applied Materials Stock Down 1.9 %

AMAT opened at $207.90 on Friday. Applied Materials has a one year low of $129.21 and a one year high of $255.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 2.80. The company has a market capitalization of $172.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $222.50 and its 200-day moving average is $209.70.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $6.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 27.57% and a return on equity of 41.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Applied Materials will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Applied Materials in a research report on Friday. Barclays raised Applied Materials from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Applied Materials from $260.00 to $230.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $222.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $225.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total transaction of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,185 shares in the company, valued at $11,639,630.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Applied Materials news, Director Thomas J. Iannotti sold 9,827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $236.65, for a total value of $2,325,559.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,639,630.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Prabu G. Raja sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $12,458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 458,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,223,763.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,827 shares of company stock valued at $21,382,560 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Applied Materials

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.