Applied Materials Rallies Ahead of Fiscal Q4 Earnings as Chip Equipment Stocks Rebound

Applied Materials (AMAT) shares rose 6.1% to close at $395.08 on Wednesday, November 11, the session before the company reports fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 results after the close on Thursday, November 12. Intraday the stock was up 5.72% by 10:45 a.m. ET and about 8% in the afternoon. The results have not been released yet.

The move followed CoreWeave's quarterly results after the close on November 10, which revived the AI trade and lifted chip equipment names. Lam Research and KLA were up about 9% and 7% in afternoon trading, after falling 24% and 16% over the prior month, while Applied had dropped 20% over the same stretch.

The bar is high. Applied guided fourth-quarter revenue to $10.25 billion, plus or minus $500 million, and non-GAAP EPS to $4.02, plus or minus $0.20. TradingKey's preview puts consensus revenue at about $10.3 billion, which it calls roughly 51% growth from $6.8 billion a year earlier. The $900 figure circulating in coverage is the highest price target on the Street, not a raise: SentiSense analyst data shows targets from $358.00 to $900.00 with an average of $620.78. TradingKey also notes Morgan Stanley cut its target from $563 to $538 and kept a Hold rating.

Valuation reads are split. GuruFocus says the shares trade 47.0% above its GF Value, while a Simply Wall St piece frames the stock as undervalued. Investors may focus on the fiscal 2027 outlook, memory makers' capacity plans and China, whose share of revenue fell to 28% from 35%.