Historically, tumultuous times offer some of the best opportunities to buy stocks, and the market's recent mess surely qualifies. And though semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials
In our Motley Fool CAPS community, about 95% of the 1,878 investors rating the company are bullish, so there's no shortage of reasons why Applied Materials will thrive, three of which I've highlighted below.
But here at The Motley Fool, we're all for looking at both the good and bad sides of an investment. So once you're done with this article, you can read the case against the stock, weigh in with your own comments below on this page, or rate Applied Materials in CAPS.
1. Bullish outlook
Even with fears of slowing semiconductor growth pressuring shares of companies like AMD
2. Steady demand
Like the strong quarterly results from chip makers Micron Technology
3. Solar ambitions
While semiconductors remain the bread and butter of the business, investors like the opportunity for Applied Materials to expand its solar business. Applied Materials is citing significant advances in thin-film technology and also pushing ahead with crystalline silicon solar, which saw record profitability in the third quarter. Aside from a potential slowdown in Germany next year, it expects strong demand in other parts of the world, while solar companies like First Solar
To see details of what CAPS members are saying now about Applied Materials, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS and have a look, or add your thoughts directly to this story in the comments box below.