Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Moves -1.84%: What You Should Know

Applied Materials (AMAT) closed the most recent trading day at $84.42, moving -1.84% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 2.11% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.54%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.3%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had lost 8.58% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 10.31%, while the S&P 500 lost 8.19%.

Applied Materials will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Applied Materials to post earnings of $2.01 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 3.61%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.66 billion, up 8.83% from the year-ago period.

AMAT's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $7.68 per share and revenue of $25.7 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +12.28% and +11.43%, respectively.

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. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, 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. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.15% higher. Applied Materials is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Applied Materials has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.2 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 12.77, so we one might conclude that Applied Materials is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that AMAT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.51. 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. Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.45 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 91, which puts it in the top 37% 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.

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

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research