Why Applied Materials (AMAT) Shares Are Trading Higher

Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT shares are trading higher by 7.7% to $149.65 Thursday afternoon. Shares of semiconductor and chip stocks are trading higher following strong fourth-quarter financial results from Lam Research.

What Happened With Lam Research?

Lam Research reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $5.98 per share, surpassing the analyst consensus estimate of $5.07 by 17.95%. However, this represents a 32.28% decrease compared to earnings of $8.83 per share from the same period last year.

The company reported quarterly sales of $3.21 billion, exceeding the analyst consensus estimate of $3.13 billion by 2.46%. Nevertheless, this reflects a 30.82% decrease compared to sales of $4.64 billion in the same period last year.

Lam Research expects its adjusted EPS for the first-quarter to be approximately $6.05, with a possible range of plus or minus $0.75. Additionally, the company anticipates sales of around $3.4 billion, with a potential variation of plus or minus $300 million.

Following the earnings print, LRCX received a number of analyst rating updates.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, AMAT has a 52-week high of $149.71 and a 52-week low of $71.12.