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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 at $140.38 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.32% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.79%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.07%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 2.71%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had gained 5.37% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 2.73%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.16%.

Applied Materials will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Applied Materials is projected to report earnings of $1.73 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 10.82%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $6.16 billion, down 5.59% from the prior-year quarter.

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.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates 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.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.

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 remained stagnant within the past month. Applied Materials currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Applied Materials currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.38. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 24.17.

Investors should also note that AMAT has a PEG ratio of 3.61 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication was holding an average PEG ratio of 3.61 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 110, which puts it in the top 44% 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.


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