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Applied Materials (AMAT) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $112.99, moving -1.02% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.07% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.31%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.22%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had gained 17.42% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 11.67%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.64%.

Applied Materials will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Applied Materials to post earnings of $1.93 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 2.12%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $6.69 billion, up 6.62% from the prior-year quarter.

AMAT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $6.74 per share and revenue of $24.16 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -12.47% and -6.29%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Applied Materials. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.31% lower. Applied Materials is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Applied Materials currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 16.92. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.69, so we one might conclude that Applied Materials is trading at a discount comparatively.

Also, we should mention that AMAT has a PEG ratio of 2.47. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.01 at yesterday's closing price.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 49, which puts it in the top 20% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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