Needham & Company Raises Price Target on Applied Materials (AMAT) Following Mixed 3Q

Needham & Company reiterated a Buy rating on Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), and raised the price target to $34.00 (from $29.00), following the company's 3Q earnings report. Revenue of $2.82B slightly missed the Street's $2.84B, but NG EPS of $0.50 beat consensus of $0.48 due to lower tax.

Analyst Edwin Mok commented, "AMAT reported a strong F3Q16 (Jul) and provided substantially higher guidance, driven by strong growth in SemiCap and Display businesses. TAM expansion as the industry shifts spending to AMAT's targeted segments, coupled with market share gains (particularly around 3D NAND) and success of new products (such as encap in Display), are driving accelerated growth. We estimate AMAT is on track to grow 24% in CY16, and we believe many of the growth trends are sustainable for AMAT (and the industry) into CY2017 and beyond. With a substantial increase in forward earnings estimates, we see more upside to share price and reiterate our Buy, raising our Price Target from $29 to $34."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Applied Materials click here. For more ratings news on Applied Materials click here.

Shares of Applied Materials closed at $27.68 yesterday.

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