Deutsche Bank analyst Sidney Ho downgraded Applied Materials (AMAT) to Hold and lowered his price target for the shares to $43 from $58. Semicap Equipment stocks are not expensive but lack positive catalysts, Ho tells investors in a research note. The analyst believes investor fears over that the industry has reached a cyclical peak will remain as long as the memory market stays weak. Further, he sees risk is for additional capex push-outs, especially in the first half of 2019. With this setup, the analyst prefers companies with a defensive business model like Entegris (ENTG) or stocks that look mispriced like MKS Instruments (MKSI) over broad-based names Applied Materials, Lam Research (LRCX) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC).

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Sees Q4 revenue $2.5B, +/- $125M, consensus $2.42B.

Reports Q3 revenue $2.36B, consensus $2.31B. "KLA's March quarter results were above our adjusted guidance as customer demand and company execution tracked consistent with our expectations," said Rick Wallace, president and CEO, KLA Corporation. "As we have highlighted over the past few quarters, market conditions have stabilized and we expect our business levels to improve as we progress through the year. We are encouraged by the improvement in our customers' businesses across multiple end markets and this improvement is translating into constructive discussions with our customers about future opportunities for leading edge capacity investments."

BofA analyst Vivek Arya raised the firm's price target on Lam Research to $1,000 from $970 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Lam "delivered a solid beat and raise" with growth expected to accelerate into the second half of the calendar year, says the firm, which adds that it is "beginning to see the green shoots of NAND recovery."

TD Cowen raised the firm's price target on Lam Research to $1,000 from $975 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm said NAND recovery is off to a good start with two consecutive quarters of 25-30% sequential growth and other vectors are also showing growth.

Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini lowered the firm's price target on Lam Research to $850 from $880 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm said they posted a good print and guidance as its report and commentary were inline with Susquehanna's preview.

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Notable companies reporting after the market close, with earnings consensus, include Meta Plataforms (META), consensus $4.32... IBM (IBM), consensus $1.60... ServiceNow (NOW), consensus $3.14... Lam Research (LRCX), consensus $7.30... Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), consensus $11.68... O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY), consensus $9.26... Ford Motor (F), consensus 42c... United Rentals (URI), consensus $8.32... Align Technology (ALGN), consensus $1.97... Molina Healthcare (MOH), consensus $5.59... Teradyne (TER), consensus 33c... Universa Health Services (UHS), consensus $3.16... Western Union (WU), consensus 41c.