Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) issued an update on its first quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.11-$2.47 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.30. The company issued revenue guidance of $6.75-$7.55 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $7.17 billion.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Dbs Bank lowered shares of Applied Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Applied Materials from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Applied Materials from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $250.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.48.

Applied Materials Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMAT opened at $183.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $151.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.52. Applied Materials has a 12-month low of $144.57 and a 12-month high of $255.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $187.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.19.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.13. Applied Materials had a return on equity of 39.26% and a net margin of 26.41%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Applied Materials will post 9.5 EPS for the current year.

Applied Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.58%.

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.