Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) edged 1.14% lower in premarket trading after Lynx Equity Strategies struck a cautious tone ahead of the chip equipment maker’s upcoming earnings release.
The brokerage warned that investor expectations may be running ahead of fundamentals as markets await the company’s latest results. Attention is focused on how Applied Materials will navigate the current semiconductor spending cycle.
Lynx pointed in particular to the industry’s anticipated DRAM-led capital expenditure cycle. While increased memory investment could underpin some top-line growth, the firm questioned whether that would be enough to narrow the performance gap with peers.
“Net/net we are cautious into print vs. the bullish expectations on the Street. Into a DRAM-heavy capex cycle, AMAT stock could make progress on an absolute basis as long as the revenue growth through the year is inline with WFE growth. However, in order for AMAT to close the performance gap with LRCX, a DRAM-heavy cycle alone is not going to help, in our view,” Lynx stated in their note.
The commentary suggests that although higher memory-related spending may offer support, it may not be sufficient for Applied Materials to meaningfully outperform competitors such as Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) in the near term.