AMAT Earnings Shock: Why Applied Materials Tanked Despite Blowout Results
Wall Street's favorite semiconductor equipment maker just delivered—and got punished for it. Here's the brutal irony no one's talking about.
Strong earnings? Check. Solid guidance? Check. Stock price cratering? Of course—this is 2025's market logic.
The cynical take: When even 'beats' get sold, you know algo traders are scraping the bottom of their playbooks. Maybe Applied Materials should've missed estimates and guided lower—that's been the winning strategy lately.
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Breaking down the numbers further, segment revenues came in as follows:
- Semiconductor Systems: $4.76 billion
- Applied Global Services: $1.625 billion
- Display: $355 million
- Other: $60 million
Outlook for 2026
Looking forward to Q1 2026, management provided the following outlook:
- Revenue of $6.85 billion (plus or minus $500 million) versus estimates of $6.8 billion
- Adjusted earnings per share of $2.18 (plus or minus $0.20) compared to expectations of $2.15
As you can see, guidance was slightly better than expected. However, this wasn’t enough to excite investors.
What Is the Target Price for AMAT?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on AMAT stock based on 17 Buys, nine Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months. Furthermore, the average AMAT stock price target of $218.78 per share implies 2% downside risk. However, it’s worth noting that estimates will likely change following today’s earnings report.
