Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Moves -0.34%: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Applied Materials (AMAT) closed at $56.15, marking a -0.34% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.12%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.88%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.07%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had lost 11.68% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector lost 1.17%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.59%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from AMAT as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.17, up 46.25% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.60 billion, up 22.65% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.07 per share and revenue of $17.11 billion, which would represent changes of +33.88% and +17.15%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for AMAT. 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 remained stagnant. AMAT currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Investors should also note AMAT's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 13.85. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 14.87.

Meanwhile, AMAT's PEG ratio is currently 1.09. 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. The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.12 as of yesterday's close.

The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 6, putting it in the top 3% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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