NEW YORK, June 25, 2026, 14:07 EDT
- Applied Materials shares jumped 10.7% to $652.07 at 1:52 p.m. EDT, pushing its market value up by around $50.4 billion.
- The stock was 18.7% over the average analyst target of $549.34. BofA’s $720 target gives it another 10.4% upside.
- The Philadelphia semiconductor index jumped 2.5% as memory stocks outpaced megacap tech. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.31%.
- Applied said DRAM wafer-fab equipment spend will be over double what’s going into NAND. The company also expects HBM to boost its advanced packaging business by more than 50% this year.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) surged Thursday, with a sharp move that stood out for its scale. Shares traded at $652.07, up $63.10, or 10.7%, as of 1:52 p.m. EDT. The jump boosted the company’s equity value by around $50.4 billion, based on the latest market cap and share count.
Applied’s rally put it out front for dollar gains against other equipment peers. ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) U.S. shares added about $29.6 billion in value, Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) rose $23.2 billion and KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) picked up $2.4 billion.
Philadelphia’s semiconductor index is up 2.5% at 11:49 a.m. ET, heading for its best quarter ever, but the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.31% as declines in Big Tech weighed. The split action on the tape kept the market divided.
Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) jumped $185.03 to $1,233.54 in recent trade after its earnings forecast beat analyst views. The stock moved as the market looked for memory-capex leverage rather than another generic AI name. Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) also climbed, up $14.58 at $211.99, on a comment that its data-center business could hit $15 billion in revenue by 2029.
Applied Materials picked up momentum after its June 25 DRAM and Advanced Packaging Master Class. The company rolled out new systems for DRAM and advanced packaging, including an updated Centura Prime Epi tool that is 20% smaller. Other new process-control tools are targeted at HBM and chiplet packaging.
Applied Materials’ Semiconductor Products Group president Dr. Prabu Raja said DRAM is starting to use materials steps typical of logic chips, with “the distinction between logic and memory process technology is converging.” Applied Materials
Applied’s Keith Wells, who leads the Imaging and Process Control Group, said advanced packaging is now pushing past what optical tools can handle. “Packaging fabs need eBeam-grade precision,” Wells said. Applied Materials
Applied’s prepared remarks firmed up the stock move. The company said DRAM wafer-fab equipment spending will be more than double that of NAND. Its share of DRAM process-equipment is up around 10 points from 2013. HBM is pushing its advanced packaging business higher, with growth of over 50% expected this year.
The stock’s valuation is outpacing the Street average. MarketWatch lists an average target of $549.34 from 39 ratings, with the top target at $720 and median at $530. Shares at $652.07 sit 18.7% over the average target, trading at 39.5 times the next fiscal year EPS estimate of $16.50.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) moved to raise its target price on Applied to $720 from $540 on June 23, keeping its Buy rating in place. The firm also bumped its 2030 semiconductor addressable-market forecast up to $2.7 trillion from $2.3 trillion, saying most of that is from memory and data center.
The stock still sits about 10.4% under BofA’s target. For now, it’s above the average model price. Investors looking for another move need to see either raised estimates or the market putting a higher multiple on the shares.
Applied Materials’ last earnings formed the baseline. In May, the company posted record Q2 revenue of $7.91 billion and non-GAAP EPS at $2.86. For Q3, it guided revenue to $8.95 billion, give or take $500 million, and forecast non-GAAP EPS at $3.36, plus or minus 20 cents. CEO Gary Dickerson said the semiconductor equipment segment should “grow more than 30 percent in calendar 2026.” Applied Materials
Risk is sticking around in the market. “Trees don’t grow to the sky,” said Wealth Alliance CEO Robert Conzo after the extended rally in high-growth names. Michele Morganti, a senior equity strategist at Generali Investments, said “there is still a risk” the Fed could hike rates this year. Reuters
