Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, chip equipment maker Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT ) has earned a respected five-star ranking.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Applied Materials' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Applied Materials facts
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Headquarters (Founded)
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Santa Clara, Calif. (1967)
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Market Cap
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$13.65 billion
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Industry
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Semiconductor equipment
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Trailing-12-Month Revenue
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$11.22 billion
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Management
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Chairman/CEO Michael Splinter
CFO George Davis
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Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)
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10%
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Cash/Debt
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$5.76 billion / $1.95 billion
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Dividend Yield
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2.9%
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Competitors
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KLA-Tencor (Nasdaq: KLAC )
Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX )
Varian Semiconductor Equipment (Nasdaq: VSEA )
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Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 95% of the 2,041 members who have rated Applied Materials believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include BKITU and afewgoodstocks11.
Earlier this summer, BKITU listed several of Applied Materials' positives: "Solid financials, outperforms its peers, stock is cheap, pays a nice dividend, works in a field that isn't going anywhere for the next five years."
In fact, Applied Materials currently sports a cheapish PEG ratio of 0.9. That represents a slight discount to competitors KLA-Tencor (1.0), Lam Research (1.5), and Varian Semiconductor (1.0).
CAPS member afewgoodstocks11 elaborates on the Applied Materials bull case:
Tech company with growing dividend that has tracked the S/P for 5 years and is currently at about 25% discount.
P/E (ttm): 7.88
EPS (ttm): 1.45
Div & Yield: 0.32 (2.80%)
Dividend has been paid quarterly since 2005 and risen from .03 cents to .08. Anticipated growing dividend could pay for this investment in 10-14 years (with luck) and the new tech they are releasing could potentially appreciate this stock dramatically.
If you've been waiting for a chance to accumulate, now could be the time.
What do you think about Applied Materials, or any other stock for that matter? If you want to retire rich, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future, and on Motley Fool CAPS, thousands of investors are working every day to find them. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!
Interested in another easy way to track Applied Materials? Add it to your watchlist.
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