Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is a key player in the semiconductor industry, providing equipment, services, and software for the manufacturing of semiconductor chips. The company competes with other industry giants like Lam Research and KLA Corporation. Despite its strong market presence, AMAT has faced challenges recently, impacting its stock performance.
On February 24, 2025, Citigroup maintained its "Buy" rating for AMAT, with a "hold" action, indicating a cautious stance. At that time, AMAT's stock price was $168.57. This decision comes amid a challenging period for the company, as it has underperformed the broader semiconductor sector over the past six months, experiencing a decline of over 18%. In contrast, the PHLX Semiconductor Sector index remained flat.
Despite surpassing Wall Street's expectations in revenue and earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, AMAT's cautious guidance led to an 8% drop in its stock the following day. CEO Gary Dickerson pointed out that recent U.S. restrictions have negatively impacted the company's business in China. This has resulted in a revenue guidance of $7.1 billion for the current quarter, falling short of the $7.22 billion consensus estimate.
The current stock price of AMAT is $168.57, reflecting a decrease of $3.41 or approximately -1.98% in percentage terms. Today, the stock has traded between $168.35 and $175.23. Over the past year, AMAT has reached a high of $255.89 and a low of $158.96. The company's market capitalization is approximately $136.95 billion, with a trading volume of 6,861,330 shares on the NASDAQ exchange.
