Applied Materials gets a fresh bull call

Another analyst can’t quit the AI gear trade

Wall Street is still handing out new price targets like they’re samples at Costco. In this batch, Keybanc nudged Applied Materials’ target to $550 from $450 and kept an Overweight rating on the chip-equipment giant.

That’s a pretty loud vote of confidence for a stock that already closed Thursday at $440.56. Translation: the market may have gotten excited, but one analyst thinks the AI buildout still has room to run before the story gets old.

AMAT isn’t the only name getting a tune-up

This Friday analyst sweep also hit a bunch of other names:

• Piper Sandler trimmed Figma’s target to $30 but stayed Overweight
• Roth Capital hiked Intuitive Machines to $50 and kept Buy
• Deutsche Bank went more bullish on BWX Technologies, lifting it to $255 and upgrading it to Buy
• BTIG cut StoneCo’s target to $15, though it kept a Buy rating
• Morgan Stanley bumped Viking Holdings to $86, but actually downgraded it to Equal-Weight

So no, this isn’t a one-company story. But AMAT stands out because it’s still one of the market’s favorite “picks-and-shovels” plays for AI infrastructure.

Why investors care

When analysts raise targets this way, they’re basically saying the business model still has more upside than the current stock price suggests. For Applied Materials, that matters because the AI capex boom has turned semiconductor equipment into the boring-sounding part of the tech trade that everybody suddenly wants to own.

Big picture: AMAT’s latest target hike keeps the AI hardware party going — and Wall Street doesn’t look ready to leave yet.