5 Best Semiconductor Stocks to Buy in 2021

2. Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ: AMAT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 61

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials, Inc. provides manufacturing equipment, and software & services to the semiconductor and display industries. Like Micron, Applied Materials has a good track record of posting revenue and EPS beat in almost all of its quarterly earnings since January 2017. In February 2021, the company reported its latest quarterly earnings, in which revenue beat by $195 million and EPS beat by $0.11 and management provided a strong outlook for 2021 – expecting DRAM spending to grow much faster than NAND. After reporting strong results and better guidance, many analysts raised their price targets – as per a news report, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Mizuho, KeyBanc and Needham have raised their price targets on Applied Materials.  Also, the company plans to hold its investor meeting in early April 2021, where it will provide detailed analysis of the major growth drivers that will shape its markets over the next 5-10 years – this is likely to boost the share price further.

According to our database, the number of AMAT’s long hedge funds positions increased at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. 61 funds hold an Applied Materials Inc. position compared to 59 funds in the third quarter. The company’s most significant stakeholder is Generation Investment Management, with 5.2 million shares worth $452 million.