Applied Materials (AMAT) is one of the stocks most watched by Zacks.com visitors lately. So, it might be a good idea to review some of the factors that might affect the near-term performance of the stock.Over the past month, shares of this maker of chipmaking equipment have returned -9.3%, compared to the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.1% change. During this period, the Zacks Semiconductor Equipment - Wafer Fabrication industry, which Applied Materials falls in, has lost 12.6%. The key question now is: What c ...