Why Applied Materials Is Trading Higher Today

Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ: AMAT) is trading higher Monday morning after the company received a slew of price target increases on Friday following better-than-expected earnings. 

What Happened: On May 20, Applied Materials reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results. The company reported earnings of $1.63 per share, which beat the estimate of $1.51 per share. It reported quarterly revenue of $5.58 billion, which beat the estimate of $5.41 billion. 

On May 21, multiple analysts increased price targets for the stock. 

• Morgan Stanley maintained Applied Materials with an Equal-Weight rating and raised the price target from $137 to $139.
• Mizuho maintained Applied Materials with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $155 to $158.
• Susquehanna maintained Applied Materials with a Positive rating and raised the price target from $155 to $170.
• JP Morgan maintained Applied Materials with an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $146 to $160.

Related Link: Why Applied Materials Analysts Are Largely Bullish After Q2 Earnings

President and CEO Gary Dickerson and senior vice president and CFO Dan Durn will participate in the JP Morgan Technology, Media and Communications Conference at 2 p.m. EDT.

Price Action: Applied Materials traded as high as $146 and as low as $53.31 over a 52-week period.

At last check Monday, the stock was up 4.66% $134.64.