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Applied Materials (AMAT) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors

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In the latest trading session, Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) closed at $206.11, marking a -1.24% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.72%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.95%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had lost 0.38% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 2.34%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.16%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Applied Materials in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.96, down 2% from the prior-year quarter. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $6.51 billion, reflecting a 1.74% fall from the equivalent quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.03 per share and revenue of $26.49 billion, which would represent changes of -0.25% and -0.1%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the 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.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.56% higher. Applied Materials is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Applied Materials has a Forward P/E ratio of 25.98 right now. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 31.15.

It's also important to note that AMAT currently trades at a PEG ratio of 3.16. 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. As the market closed yesterday, the Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry was having an average PEG ratio of 3.01.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 93, putting it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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