Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Jumps 8% as CEO Signals Multi-Year Chip Demand

TLDR

• AMAT stock jumped ~8% Thursday after CEO Gary Dickerson told Nikkei Asia that chipmakers are sharing demand forecasts extending to 2030
• TD Cowen raised its AMAT price target by 33% to $700; Mizuho lifted its target to $650
• Q2 2026 revenue hit a record $7.91 billion, up 20% year-over-year, with EPS of $2.86 beating estimates
• AMAT is up 141% year-to-date, though still about 18% below its 52-week high of $739.67
• Fiscal Q3 earnings are scheduled for August 13; analysts forecast EPS of $3.39 on revenue of $8.94 billion

---

Applied Materials stock surged roughly 8% on Thursday morning, trading around $620, after CEO Gary Dickerson said demand visibility has never been clearer.

Applied Materials, Inc., AMAT

Dickerson told Nikkei Asia that chipmakers are now sharing equipment demand forecasts two years out — and in some cases as far as 2030. That kind of long-range planning from customers is unusual in the semiconductor industry, and Wall Street noticed.

“Chipmakers are sharing their equipment demand outlooks for two years or more to ensure their capacity expansions proceed smoothly,” Dickerson said.

The comments landed at a good time. Earlier this month, fears about NAND oversupply and delayed capital spending sent semiconductor equipment stocks sharply lower. KLA, Lam Research, and Teradyne all posted double-digit losses in a single session.

Dickerson’s remarks pushed back on that narrative. He framed the current investment cycle as AI-driven and long-term, not cyclical.

That view got fresh backing from TD Cowen analyst Krish Sankar, who raised his price target on AMAT by 33% — from $525 to $700 — on Thursday. Mizuho also lifted its target, to $650. Sankar kept his Buy rating and sees roughly 15% upside from current levels.

Sankar forecasts the wafer fabrication equipment market hitting $250 billion in 2028 and potentially $500 billion by 2030. He sees Applied Materials and KLA as the biggest beneficiaries, given their exposure to front-end lithography and logic and DRAM chip equipment markets.

Susquehanna separately raised its wafer fab equipment market forecast to $250 billion by 2028, also citing AI investment and tighter memory market conditions. The firm bumped price targets on Advanced Energy Industries, Lam Research, and KLA in the same note.

Strong Financials Back the Bullish Case

Applied Materials reported Q2 2026 results on May 14. Revenue came in at a record $7.91 billion, up 20% year-over-year and above the $7.68 billion analyst consensus. EPS of $2.86 beat the $2.68 estimate.

The company has also been expanding capacity. It recently more than doubled its advanced cleanroom space in Singapore to keep up with chipmaker demand.

Year-to-date, AMAT is up 141%. That’s a strong run, but the stock is still about 18% below its 52-week high of $739.67, so there’s room to recover if the demand story holds.

August Earnings in Focus

The next major catalyst is fiscal Q3 earnings, due August 13. Analysts have issued 25 upward revisions to earnings estimates over the past 90 days — with zero downward revisions.

Consensus now sits at EPS of $3.39 on revenue of $8.94 billion.

Research firm SemiAnalysis estimates cumulative global AI infrastructure spending could reach $11.1 trillion between 2024 and 2029 — a number that, if anywhere near accurate, keeps equipment demand elevated for years.

Across Wall Street, AMAT holds a Strong Buy consensus based on 23 Buy ratings and two Holds over the past three months.