Applied Materials, ACM Research, Aehr Test See Retail Chatter Surge Before Friday’s Open

Semiconductor stocks have had a volatile week with the back-and-forth between President-elect Donald Trump and the Chinese government on tariffs and sanctions. 

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) fell by over 5.7% in the previous session, and was down as much as 2% in pre-market trading on Friday.

Stocktwits’ exclusive retail activity analysis shows that shares of Applied Materials, ACM Research, Aehr Test Systems, Universal Display Corporation, and Microchip Technology saw the biggest surge in retail chatter over the last 24 hours.

Here’s how retail is feeling about the chip manufacturing stocks:

Applied Materials Inc.

Applied Materials Sentiment and Message Volume on Dec 6 as of 6:45 a.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits.

Shares of Applied Materials saw a modest 0.4% uptick in pre-market trading on Friday, after clocking a 5% drop in the previous session after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock citing concerns around the company’s target market.

The brokerage downgraded the stock to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ and cut its price target to $164 from $179.

Retail sentiment around the stock remained bearish (38/100) even as chatter rose to ‘high’ before markets opened on Friday. 

According to Stocktwits data, Applied Materials experienced a 620% surge in message volume over the past 24 hours, building on its 12-fold increase in conversational activity over the past week.

The stock has only gained 11.4% so far this year after the stock hit an all-time high in July, resulting in massive profit booking. 

ACM Research Inc.

ACM Research Sentiment and Message Volume on Dec 6 as of 7:00 a.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits.

Shares of ACM Research saw a sharp turnaround in pre-market trading on Friday. The stock was up as much as 3% after a massive tumble of nearly 15% in the previous session causing the stock to hit over one year lows of $13.87.

The drop came after Craig-Hallum downgraded the stock to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’ and slashed its price target to $18 from $30.

The brokerage pointed out that ACM Research’s operating subsidiaries were recently added to the U.S. export restriction list, creating more uncertainty about the potential effects on the company.

Retail sentiment around the stock, however, has jumped three levels to ‘extremely bullish’ (93/100) from ‘bearish’ a day ago with message volume hitting the ‘extremely high’ zone. Chatter indicates that retail investors are capitalizing on the opportunity to buy-the-dip.

According to Stocktwits data, ACM Research registered a 615% increase in message count over the last 24 hours.

The stock saw the highest uptick in chatter this week, second only to Marvell Technology, with a 92x increase.

Aehr Test Systems Inc.

Aehr Test Systems Sentiment and Message Volume on Dec 6 as of 7:15 a.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits.

Shares of Aehr Test Systems jumped as much as 2% in pre-market trading on Friday, after recording a 7% drop in the previous session. 

The stock has been struggling to gain since it decreased its revenue outlook for fiscal 2023 in January and subsequently reported a 25% fall in revenue YoY for the full year. 

Wall Street sees challenges in customer orders and market conditions challenging the company in the near-term, with the company’s revenue falling another 21% sequentially in the August quarter.

Retail sentiment around Aehr dipped to ‘bearish’ (33/100) from ‘neutral’ a day ago as more people joined the conversation, pushing message volumes to ‘extremely high’. 

According to Stocktwits data, the ticker saw a 260% increase in message count over the last 24 hours. 

Aehr’s stock value has halved so far this year with worries of weakening demand and delayed orders weighing on the shares.

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