On September 4, Applied Materials rose 3.71% in regular trading, trading at approximately $453.37 per share, with turnover of $269 million. The rally was primarily driven by UBS raising its target price on the stock and a broad recovery across the semiconductor equipment sector.
On the news front, UBS recently raised its target price on Applied Materials from $675 to $695, maintaining a Buy rating, citing an optimistic outlook for the company's semiconductor systems business growth. This marks a reversal from UBS's earlier adjustment in mid-August when it had lowered its target from $705 to $675 following the company's fiscal Q3 earnings report. Applied Materials posted record Q3 revenue of $9.1 billion, up 25% year over year, with adjusted EPS of $3.50, and guided Q4 revenue midpoint to $10.25 billion, well above consensus. UBS highlighted the company's plan to double systems manufacturing capacity by 2028 as a key positive.
At the sector level, the semiconductor equipment space staged a collective rebound after broad pressure in the prior session driven by rising rate-hike expectations. Among peers, ASML Holding rose 3.33%, KLA Corporation gained 3.97%, Lam Research climbed 3.70%, and Aehr Test surged 7.21%.
(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.)
