Applied Materials Slides as EPIC Center Launch Meets Chip-Sector Weakness

Applied Materials (AMAT) is down 4.4% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The drop appears tied to a mix of profit-taking after Applied Materials unveiled its new EPIC semiconductor R&D center and a broader selloff across chip stocks. The company’s recent fundamentals were strong, so the move looks more sentiment-driven than caused by a clear deterioration in operating results.

Details:

Applied Materials unveiled its EPIC Center on October 12, 2026, describing it as a $5 billion investment in a major Silicon Valley facility focused on collaborative chip process and equipment research.

The company’s investor calendar also showed an EPIC Center unveiling on October 12 followed by an investor breakfast presentation on October 13, putting the stock in focus over back-to-back corporate events.

In its most recent quarterly earnings release, Applied Materials posted record third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $9.12 billion and record non-GAAP EPS of $3.50, which suggests today’s decline was not driven by a weak earnings update.

Chip stocks broadly came under pressure on October 13 as investors reassessed AI-related semiconductor names, which likely added sector-wide pressure to AMAT shares.

Sources:

Applied Materials, SEC, Associated Press

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 37 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 37 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) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 993 shares for an estimated $511,177.

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.

$AMAT Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 1,715 institutional investors add shares of $AMAT stock to their portfolio, and 1,446 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 8 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 6 have been purchases and 2 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 has traded it 2 times. They made 1 purchase worth up to $15,000 on 08/06 and 1 sale worth up to $15,000 on 09/15.
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.