The most recent trading session ended with Applied Materials (AMAT) standing at $154.61, reflecting a -0.32% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock's change was more than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.64%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.24%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.74%.
Heading into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had gained 22.17% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.67% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.38% in that time.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Applied Materials in its upcoming release. The company plans to announce its earnings on May 15, 2025. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $2.31, marking a 10.53% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $7.12 billion, indicating a 7.13% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $9.36 per share and revenue of $28.81 billion, which would represent changes of +8.21% and +6.01%, respectively, from the prior year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Applied Materials. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% higher within the past month. Applied Materials currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Applied Materials is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 16.56. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 23.18, which means Applied Materials is trading at a discount to the group.
We can additionally observe that AMAT currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.63. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Electronics - Semiconductors stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.52 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Electronics - Semiconductors industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 67, positioning it in the top 28% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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