Share prices of Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) have already rocketed 73% over the last 12 months, and yet analysts at Bernstein still see another 19% upside potential in the next 12 months. Earlier this week, the wealth management firm maintained its outperform (buy) rating while raising the price target from $230 to $240. The stock currently trades at around $202 a share.

Applied Materials is a leading supplier of equipment used to make silicon wafers for the chip industry. The company's quarterly revenue growth slowed to a halt in 2022 but an improving outlook for the industry has some analysts on Wall Street becoming more bullish on the stock's prospects.

Investment in advanced logic chips used for artificial intelligence (AI) could become a growth catalyst. AI is only contributing about 6% to new wafer starts right now but it's projected to grow over 30% per year over the next several years.

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Source Fool.com