Applied Materials (AMAT) closed the most recent trading day at $128.62, moving +0.34% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.59%.Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of chipmaking equipment had lost 2.32% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.79% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.53% in that time.Wall Street will be looking for positivity from AMAT as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, AMAT is projected to report earnings of $1.76 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 66.04%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.92 billion, up 34.7% from the year-ago period.For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.55 per share and revenue of $22.65 billion, which would represent changes of +57.07% and +31.67%, respectively, from the prior year.Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AMAT. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.32% higher. AMAT is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Looking at its valuation, AMAT is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.58. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.87.It is also worth noting that AMAT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.09. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. AMAT's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.09 as of yesterday's close.The Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 67, which puts it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2021. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research