Applied Materials posts impressive 53% jump in revenue as it beats expectations again

Applied Materials Inc., a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer, reported a 53% increase in revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter, surpassing Wall Street's expectations. The company's adjusted earnings per share reached $4.16, up from a year earlier, while revenue grew to $10.41 billion. Analysts had forecasted earnings of $4.06 per share and sales of $10.3 billion.

Net income increased to $2.71 billion, up from $1.89 billion in the same period last year. Applied Materials, the world's biggest supplier of equipment to semiconductor manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics, and Micron Technology, provides a wide range of machines for various semiconductor manufacturing processes, particularly for AI workloads.

CEO Gary Dickerson stated that the company achieved record results, with full-year sales rising 21% to $34.31 billion. He also highlighted that Applied's semiconductor systems business unit is expected to grow more than 40% in calendar 2026. The company's stock experienced a brief dip following Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's resignation, but it recovered and gained over 2.5% in late trading.

Applied's semiconductor systems unit saw revenue soar from $4.88 billion to $7.99 billion, while the applied global services segment's sales increased from $1.5 billion to $1.89 billion. For the current quarter, Applied is targeting earnings of $4.35 per share and revenue of $11.1 billion, exceeding expectations of $4.24 per share and $10.85 billion in sales.

The company recently announced a $5 billion investment in a new chip research and development facility, the EPIC Center, in Silicon Valley, which will serve as a shared R&D center for chipmakers to collaborate on advanced manufacturing technologies.