On May 20, Applied Materials rose 3.03% in regular trading, trading at $419.755/share, with trading volume of $219 million. The stock rebounded after two consecutive sessions of decline triggered by Morgan Stanley's downgrade earlier in the week.
On the news front, multiple investment banks collectively raised their target prices on the company. Argus lifted its target from $420 to $500 while maintaining a Buy rating, Wolfe Research raised its target to $550 maintaining an Outperform rating, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised to $450, and Daiwa Securities raised to $425. According to FactSet, the stock carries an average analyst rating of Buy with a mean target price of $518.61, suggesting significant upside from current levels.
The broader semiconductor equipment sector rallied in tandem, with ASML Holding up 2.95%, Lam Research up 3.27%, and KLA-Tencor up 2.43%, providing supportive momentum. The coordinated analyst upgrades appear to have offset the selling pressure from Morgan Stanley's downgrade to Equal-Weight with a $502 target, which had driven the stock down over 6% in the prior two sessions despite strong fiscal Q2 results showing revenue of $7.91 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.86 that both beat expectations.
(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)
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