NEW YORK, June 30, 2026, 05:02 (EDT)
- Applied Materials finished Monday at a record $694.64, rising 10.82%. The stock reached as high as $708.99 during the session.
- The stock’s jump in a single day put about $53.8 billion onto its market cap. That’s roughly four times the $13.2 billion still available from the company’s buyback authorization, going by quoted shares outstanding and company numbers.
- The stock is up 170.3% so far this year, beating the PHLX Semiconductor Index by 76.8 percentage points.
- U.S. cash markets hadn’t started trading as of the dateline. Nasdaq’s next scheduled holiday for U.S. equities is July 3.
Applied Materials NASDAQ:AMAT heads into Tuesday with a buyback issue of its own making. After shares jumped 10.82% Monday, each dollar left in its repurchase plan now has less impact on earnings per share.
The chip equipment stock ended at $694.64, gaining $67.80 on the day after reaching an intraday high of $708.99. Around 14.17 million shares changed hands, which is roughly 1.7 times its 65-day average volume. MarketWatch posted an after-hours quote of $704.01 at 7:59 p.m. EDT.
Applied said this month it had about $13.2 billion left for buybacks at the end of its fiscal second quarter. MarketWatch puts the share count at 793.96 million. At Monday’s close, that buyback would be enough to retire around 19 million shares, or 2.4% of the total, before any fees, taxes or price moves.
| Buyback and market-value math | Figure |
|---|---|
| Monday’s close | $694.64 |
| Friday’s close | $626.84 |
| Total shares outstanding | 793.96 mln |
| Market cap added on Monday | ~$53.8 bln |
| Left in buyback authorization | ~$13.2 bln |
| Buyback authorization in shares at Monday close | ~19.0 mln shares |
| Buyback authorization in shares at Friday close | ~21.1 mln shares |
| Shares “lost” after one-day rally | ~2.1 mln shares |
Applied’s Q2 buybacks show the squeeze. The company spent $400 million to buy 1.134 million shares, paying an average of $352.63 each. At Monday’s close, $400 million would only buy around 576,000 shares, nearly half.
This is worth noting since the stock isn’t trading as a typical capital-return play now. MarketWatch has Applied at a 65.27 P/E and a 0.31% dividend yield. The buyback authorization is still big in dollar size, though it’s not much compared to the $551.52 billion market cap as of Monday’s close.
| Monday move | Last price/level | One-day change | 2026 performance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Applied Materials NASDAQ:AMAT | $694.64 | up 10.82% | up 170.30% YTD |
| PHLX Semiconductor Index | 13,709.66 | gained 3.83% | up 93.55% YTD |
| Nasdaq Composite | 25,820.14 | added 2.07% | — |
| S&P 500 | 7,440.43 | rose 1.18% | — |
Applied Materials got fresh price target hikes from Wall Street, according to Investor’s Business Daily. Cantor Fitzgerald’s C.J. Muse took his target up to $850 from $650. KeyBanc’s Steve Barger moved his up to $750 from $550. Based on Monday’s close, Muse’s new target points to about 22% upside, while Barger’s calls for 8%.
Applied posted more than just a chart. In May, it put up record quarterly revenue at $7.91 billion, up 11%. Non-GAAP EPS also hit a record, climbing 20% to $2.86. CEO Gary Dickerson told buyers the semiconductor equipment business is seen growing “more than 30 percent in calendar 2026.” Applied Materials
Applied’s June 25 launch spotlighted DRAM, high-bandwidth memory and advanced packaging—the chip segments most linked to AI server demand. The company said a new DRAM epi tool comes with a 20% smaller footprint, which is key for memory makers bumping up against fab-space constraints.
“Advanced packaging has become a primary driver of system-level performance,” Prabu Raja, president of Applied’s semiconductor products group, said. The company said its SEMVision G7AP defect-analysis system is in production at top memory and logic makers, according to the same release. Applied Materials
The overall market was higher. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.07% Monday, Reuters said. The S&P 500 was also up, gaining 1.18%. The Dow advanced 0.59%. “The market is looking forward and preparing for earnings season,” Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, told Reuters. Reuters
Applied’s shares are now leaning more on earnings growth. In Q2, China and Taiwan each brought in 27% of revenue, Korea made up 20%. Management said that changes in customer demand, export policy and license timing could move results.
