Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) Estimates Too Low Says Piper

Piper Jaffray semiconductor equipment analyst Gus Richard today raised his rating on shares of Applied Materials (AMAT) to Overweight, and raised his price target to $22 from $12, writing that he was wrong to downgrade it to Neutral in July of last year, when he had concerns about the company’s solar materials business.

At the time, Applied was going through a major restructuring of its solar business, cutting hundreds of jobs.

Applied shares today are up 12 cents, or 0.8%, at $15.78.

Richard now thinks estimates for this year and next are too low, and he expects that Applied’s fiscal Q1 earnings report tomorrow, after the bell, will beat the consensus estimate of $2.6 billion in revenue and 33 cents per share.




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