New York, Jan 6, 2026, 19:34 (EST) — After-hours
- Applied Materials pushed to a new 52-week high as semiconductor gear makers tracked a broader chip rally.
- Investors are parsing CES headlines and incoming U.S. labor data for the next signal on tech spending and rates.
Applied Materials Inc shares rose 4.1% to $296.01 on Tuesday, marking a fresh 52-week high as buyers piled into chip-equipment names. The stock traded between $284.00 and $298.09 and finished above its prior peak near $287.74 set a session earlier, with volume slightly below its recent average.
The move comes as chip stocks gained on renewed AI optimism, lifting the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index to a record and helping Wall Street end higher. Jed Ellerbroek, a portfolio manager at Argent Capital, said he expects “a very strong earnings season for Big Tech,” and higher capital-spending forecasts, a key swing factor for suppliers to chip factories. Reuters
At CES in Las Vegas, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s next-generation “Vera Rubin” chips are in “full production” and outlined new features such as “context memory storage,” a storage layer aimed at improving chatbot responses in long conversations. Those updates kept focus on the AI build-out and the capital spending — money companies put into factories and equipment — that drives demand for wafer-fab tools from suppliers like Applied Materials. Reuters+1
Peers also advanced, with Lam Research up 6.2%, KLA up 3.1% and ASML’s U.S.-listed shares up 1.1% on the day, as investors broadened the AI trade beyond the biggest chip designers and into the supply chain.
A regulatory filing showed Applied Materials’ corporate controller and chief accounting officer, Adam Sanders, had 324 shares withheld at $256.99 on Jan. 1 to cover tax obligations tied to restricted stock units vesting, a routine transaction rather than an open-market sale.
But the rally leaves less room for disappointment as investors head into earnings season with high expectations for AI-led spending. Applied Materials has also warned that tighter U.S. export controls are set to curb chipmaking equipment spending in China in 2026, a key uncertainty for the sector’s growth outlook.
Traders now look to U.S. labor data later this week and the next round of corporate results for direction, with Applied Materials’ next earnings report expected on Feb. 12, according to an earnings calendar.
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