Applied Materials Rises as Chip-Equipment Optimism Appears to Lift the Group

Applied Materials (AMAT) is up 4.1% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears most likely tied to a broader rebound in semiconductor equipment stocks and renewed confidence that AI-driven wafer-fab spending will remain strong. There does not appear to be a single major same-day company-specific catalyst, so the gain looks more like a sector-led move supported by Applied Materials’ already strong fundamentals.

Details:

Applied Materials recently posted record fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $9.12 billion, up 25% from a year earlier, with adjusted earnings per share of $3.50, reinforcing the view that demand for its tools remains healthy.

Management said it expects the semiconductor equipment business to grow more than 30% in calendar 2026, which continues to support bullish sentiment around AI and advanced-chip manufacturing capacity.

Recent market commentary has highlighted buying interest returning to chip-equipment names specifically, with investors focusing on future capital spending by chipmakers rather than near-term swings in chip demand.

Other recent positives include a newly approved quarterly dividend of $0.53 per share and continued generally constructive analyst sentiment, even with some mixed target revisions across Wall Street.

Sources:

Applied Materials, Yahoo Finance, Benzinga

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$AMAT Insider Trading Activity

$AMAT insiders have traded $AMAT stock on the open market 36 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 36 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $AMAT stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

GARY E DICKERSON (President and CEO) has made 0 purchases and 15 sales selling 161,321 shares for an estimated $104,789,403.
PRABU G. RAJA (President, Semi. Products Grp.) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 60,000 shares for an estimated $31,599,496.
OMKARAM NALAMASU (Senior Vice President, CTO) has made 0 purchases and 9 sales selling 35,000 shares for an estimated $20,754,197.
THOMAS J IANNOTTI sold 9,250 shares for an estimated $5,547,872
TIMOTHY M DEANE (SVP, Applied Global Services) sold 8,621 shares for an estimated $5,092,984
BRICE HILL (SVP, CFO) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 10,000 shares for an estimated $4,841,529.
JUDY BRUNER has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 2,128 shares for an estimated $972,600.
ADAM SANDERS (Corp. Controller & CAO) sold 268 shares for an estimated $116,369

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API insider transaction endpoint.

EARLY ACCESS

Receive AMAT Data Alerts

Real-time alerts on filings, insider trades, and market signals — before everyone else.

Get Alerts →

$AMAT Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 1,778 institutional investors add shares of $AMAT stock to their portfolio, and 1,539 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

INVESCO LTD. added 18,556,231 shares (+191.1%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $13,416,155,013
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO added 13,886,053 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $10,039,616,319
CAPITAL RESEARCH GLOBAL INVESTORS removed 7,296,327 shares (-24.8%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $5,275,244,421
PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ added 6,564,630 shares (+108.3%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $4,746,227,490
SIXTH STREET PARTNERS MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.P. added 4,969,702 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $3,593,094,546
FMR LLC added 2,876,511 shares (+45.0%) to their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $2,079,717,453
AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL INC removed 2,544,655 shares (-28.5%) from their portfolio in Q2 2026, for an estimated $1,839,785,565

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API 13F endpoint.

$AMAT Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $AMAT stock 7 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 6 have been purchases and 1 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $AMAT stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE JOSH GOTTHEIMER purchased up to $15,000 on 08/06.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN MCGUIRE purchased up to $15,000 on 07/15.
REPRESENTATIVE JARED MOSKOWITZ has traded it 4 times. They made 4 purchases worth up to $60,000 on 07/13, 06/18 and 0 sales.
REPRESENTATIVE DAN NEWHOUSE sold up to $15,000 on 07/10.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API Congress trades endpoint.

$AMAT Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $AMAT recently. We have seen 23 analysts offer price targets for $AMAT in the last 6 months, with a median target of $590.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Vijay Rakesh from Mizuho set a target price of $650.0 on 07/09/2026
Krish Sankar from TD Cowen set a target price of $700.0 on 07/09/2026
Shane Brett from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $647.0 on 07/06/2026
Mehdi Hosseini from Susquehanna set a target price of $900.0 on 06/30/2026
C.J. Muse from Cantor Fitzgerald set a target price of $850.0 on 06/29/2026
Steve Barger from Keybanc set a target price of $750.0 on 06/29/2026
Craig Ellis from B. Riley Securities set a target price of $790.0 on 06/26/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.