Saturday, August 18, 2012

5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Applied Materials

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 coveted 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

Headquarters (founded) Santa Clara, Calif. (1967)
Market Cap $14.6 billion
Industry Semiconductor equipment
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $10.0 billion
Management Chairman/CEO Michael Splinter
CFO George Davis
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 11.9%
Cash/Debt $2.0 billion / $2.0 billion
Dividend Yield 3.2%
Competitors KLA-Tencor
Lam Research
Tokyo Electron

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 2,104 members who have rated Applied Materials believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. �

Just a couple of days ago , one of those Fools, chicagoadvisor, succinctly summed up the bull case for our community:

Solid balance sheet, exposure to flat panel, solar panel and semi conductor space with growing share of mobile tech. Dividend pays [to] wait, the value here should weather a storm (when the next one comes). The [Varian Semiconductor] acquisition is causing some indigestion. I like, I'm buying.

If you want market-topping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Owning exceptional stocks is a surefire way to secure your financial future. Of course, despite a strong five-star rating, Applied Materials may not be your top choice.

We've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the new TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.

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