Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Applied Materials (AMAT) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

In the latest trading session, Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) closed at $144.23, marking a +0.14% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.45%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.8%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.99%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had gained 8.05% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 3.21%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.25%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Applied Materials as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.73, down 10.82% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.16 billion, down 5.59% from the year-ago period.

AMAT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.34 per share and revenue of $25.39 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -4.68% and -1.53%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Applied Materials. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.66% higher. Applied Materials currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Applied Materials has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.62 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 21.23, which means Applied Materials is trading at a discount to the group.

We can also see that AMAT currently has a PEG ratio of 3.65. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. AMAT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.65 as of yesterday's close.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 111, putting it in the top 45% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) - free report >>

Published in