Buy The Dip In Applied Materials, Stifel Says After Q2 Print

Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT reported after the close Thursday with forecast-beating second-quarter results and a third-quarter revenue guidance range in-line or below consensus estimates. The non-GAAP earnings per share guidance was in-line.  

The Analyst

Stifel analyst Patrick Ho reiterated a Buy rating on Applied Materials shares and increased the price target from $71 to $75.

The Thesis

The overall long-term thesis for Applied Materials remains "firmly intact," Ho said in a Thursday note. (See the analyst's track record here.) 

The company's diversification and broad-based semi exposure are differentiators that help to drive sustained growth, Ho said. 

"In our view, this thesis has been reinforced this quarter with many of the moving pieces surrounding the company."

Applied Materials reiterated its 2018-19 wafer fab equipment spending outlook of $100 billion.

Memory, which accounts for 68 percent of the total, is a near-term driver, and DRAM is also seeing an incremental uptick, the analyst said. 

The 15-20-percent decline the company forecast for its display business in 2019, is due to a drop in OLED equipment attributed to uncertain timelines for fab projects, Ho said. 

The analyst forecast overall LCD to be on track even as OLED appears to be in a digestion period.

Stifel said any potential pullback in Applied Materials shares can be viewed as a buying opportunity,

The Price Action

Applied Materials shares were plunging 9.7 percent at the time of publication Friday morning. 

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Photo courtesy of Applied Materials.