Company Reports

Applied Materials' solid fiscal third-quarter results were driven by surging AI infrastructure demand. Revenue grew 25% year on year to $9.1 billion, beating FactSet consensus estimates. Fourth-quarter guidance is for $10.25 billion in sales and $4.02 in EPS at the midpoint, ahead of our estimates.

We've refreshed our model assumptions for Applied Materials heading into the firm's July-quarter earnings report. Peers Lam and KLA have reported June-quarter results in recent weeks, giving context for the broader chip equipment demand picture for Applied.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads into customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid- to high-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more complex chips in the long term, including gate-all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads into customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid- to high-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more complex chips in the long term, including gate-all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials' April-quarter results were strong, and guidance was even better. Sales rose 11% year-on-year to $7.9 billion, and guidance calls for growth to accelerate to 23%. Applied now expects to grow its equipment sales by more than 30% in calendar 2026.

Applied Materials reported strong January-quarter results and provided an impressive outlook for calendar 2026. Management expects more than 20% growth in equipment sales in 2026, aligning with peer Lam Research's market commentary provided in late January.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads into customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid- to high-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more complex chips in the long term, including gate-all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads into customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid- to high-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more complex chips in the long term, including gate-all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials' October-quarter results came in above the midpoints of guidance, with sales of $6.8 billion shrinking 3% year over year. Guidance implies continuing softness over the next couple of quarters, but management is bullish about a demand inflection in the second half of 2026.

Applied Materials guided to $110 million lower revenue in its October quarter as a result of updated export restrictions between the US and China imposed on Sept. 29. It also expects a $600 million headwind in fiscal 2026.

We have updated our medium-term growth assumptions for the wafer fabrication equipment market and for Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research specifically. Our growth forecasts for these companies also include advanced packaging investments for semiconductors.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads into customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more complex chips in the long term, including gate-all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials' fiscal third-quarter results met management guidance, but management expects a decline in the fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue of $7.3 billion rose 8% year over year and 3% sequentially. Guidance calls for revenue of $6.7 billion at the midpoint, implying an 8% sequential decline.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads to customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more complex chips into the long term, including gate-all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads to customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more complex chips into the long term, including gate-all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

Applied Materials' April-quarter revenue rose 7% year over year to $7.1 billion, down 1% sequentially. Non-GAAP gross margin rose 170 basis points year over year to 49.2%. July-quarter guidance calls for 1% sequential revenue growth, to $7.2 billion, and 90 basis points of gross margin compression.

Applied Materials' January-quarter sales rose 7% year over year and 2% sequentially to $7.17 billion. April-quarter guidance implies a slight sequential sales decline at the midpoint, inclusive of roughly $200 million in missed revenue as a result of updated trade restrictions by the US on China.

Many technology hardware stocks under our coverage plunged in Monday trading after reports of DeepSeek's R1 generative artificial intelligence model out of China offering performance parity to top US models at a much lower training cost. The iShares Semiconductor ETF was down 8% in midday trading.

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads to customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more-complex chips into the long term, including gate all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.

We maintain our $193 fair value estimate for shares of wide-moat Applied Materials after October-quarter results fit our long-term growth thesis. We believe Applied is well-positioned for rising chip demand and higher chip complexity over the long run. In the medium term, we see artificial intelligence investment as a significant driver, but view the firm’s total opportunity as broad and representing the entire chip market. We expect strong medium-term growth for Applied and expect it to continue taking incremental share in the chip equipment market. Shares dipped afterhours, we think on revenue guidance that met our expectations but missed those of more optimistic investors. We now see shares as lightly undervalued.