Applied Materials, Inc.

• AMAT Stock Price 24h change: +2.20%. From 318.23 USD to 325.24 USD. The price surged following optimistic 2026 revenue forecasts and increased capital spending plans from major customer TSMC, which boosted the entire semiconductor equipment sector.
• From a technical perspective, AMAT is in a strong "bullish breakout" phase, having recently hit a new all-time high of 332.31 USD. The stock is trading well above its 50-day moving average ($266.92) and 200-day moving average ($220.79), indicating powerful long-term upward momentum, though a high P/E of 37.8 suggests potential short-term consolidation.
• Applied Materials announced it will report its fiscal first quarter 2026 financial results on February 12, 2026, with analysts expecting a focus on AI-driven tool demand.
• KeyBanc and Needham raised their price targets for AMAT to $380 and $390 respectively on January 22, citing the company's leading role in advancing chip architectures for AI applications.
• Major semiconductor manufacturers, led by TSMC, announced significant increases in 2026 capital expenditure plans to meet the explosive demand for AI-capable chips and data center infrastructure.
• Industry researchers at Omdia forecast that the global semiconductor market could exceed $1 trillion in 2026, driven by a 41.4% year-over-year growth in the computing and data storage segments.

• AMAT Stock Price 24h change: -2.70%. From 327.01 USD to 318.23 USD.
• From a technical perspective, the stock is currently in a "short-term correction within a strong bullish trend": while AMAT recently hit a 52-week high of $331, its daily RSI has reached an overbought level of 72.2, signaling near-term exhaustion. It remains supported by its 50-day moving average ($310.76) and 200-day moving average ($277.51), but faces immediate resistance at $324.49 following a 2.7% pullback on higher-than-average volume.
• Needham raised its price target for AMAT from $260 to $390 on January 20, maintaining a "Buy" rating due to expectations of accelerated demand for AI-related hardware infrastructure.
• Analysts at Keybanc and Barclays also boosted their price targets to $380 and $360 respectively this week, citing Applied Materials' critical role in the expanding AI chip supply chain and rising foundry/logic spending.
• Institutional activity shows a significant shift as short interest in AMAT dropped by 20% over the last month, indicating reduced bearish conviction as the company guides for strong Q1 2026 earnings.
• TSMC announced a record $56 billion capital expenditure plan for 2026 and forecasted 30% revenue growth, a massive tailwind for equipment suppliers like Applied Materials that provide the tools for advanced chip fabrication.
• Micron Technology signed a letter of intent to acquire a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip for $1.8 billion to expand DRAM production, highlighting the ongoing aggressive capacity expansion across the memory sector.