Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Moves -0.88%: What You Should Know

Applied Materials (AMAT) closed the most recent trading day at $84.29, moving -0.88% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.72%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.62%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.01%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had lost 19.01% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 11.99% and the S&P 500's loss of 9.09% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Applied Materials as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.01, up 3.61% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.66 billion, up 8.83% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $7.68 per share and revenue of $25.7 billion, which would represent changes of +12.28% and +11.43%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Applied Materials. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% 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 11.07 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.72.

Also, we should mention that AMAT has a PEG ratio of 1.5. 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. The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.45 as of yesterday's close.

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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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