Shares of Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) have bullishly opened above the pivot of $13.56 today and have reached the first resistance level of $13.74. Investors may be interested in a cross of the next upside pivot targets of $13.86 and $14.16.

Potential upside of 5.4% exists for Applied Materials, based on a current level of $13.74 and analysts' average consensus price target of $14.48. The stock should discover initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $12.44 and subsequent support at its 200-day MA of $11.37.

Applied Materials share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $13.99 and a 52-week low of $9.95 and are now trading 38% above that low price at $13.74 per share. Over the past week, the 200-day moving average (MA) has gone up 0.3% while the 50-day MA has advanced 1.2%.

SmarTrend recommended that subscribers consider buying shares of Applied Materials on December 24th, 2012 as our proprietary SmarTrend analytics indicated a new Uptrend was in progress when shares hit $11.40. Since that recommendation, shares of Applied Materials have risen 19.6%. We continue to monitor AMAT for any potential shift so investors can protect gains and will alert SmarTrend subscribers immediately.