35 AI Superstars According to Goldman Sachs

18. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 77

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) provides equipment, services, and software for the semiconductor industry. Analysts led by CJ Muse at Cantor Fitzgerald recently penned an investor note on the semi market, detailing that recent issues from Intel and Samsung were likely to negatively impact the semiconductor equipment market, with wafer fab equipment spending coming in lower-than-expected. Referencing Applied Materials, the analysts detailed that the lower estimates would translate to earnings implications for the company, and forecast the chipmaker was likely to earn $10 and $12 per share in fiscal 2025 and 2026. The analysts also discussed the possibility of rerating the stock.

Per the note, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) stock, on 1yr average multiple, seemed cheap, but on 3yr and 5yr averages, it had considerable downside. The note claimed that orders were bottoming and fundamentals would modestly recover in CY25 with even greater recovery into CY26, even as regulatory risk remained, but cyclically, the market was at the point where you were supposed to buy the stock.