New York, Feb 14, 2026, 10:10 ET — Market closed.
Applied Materials Inc (AMAT) shares closed at $354.91 on Friday, up $26.52, or 8.1%, after swinging sharply and touching $376.32 earlier in the session. The stock slipped a fraction in late trade, but the move capped a fast repricing of the chip-equipment maker ahead of the long weekend. (StockAnalysis)
Investors have been looking for signs that spending on chipmaking tools is not rolling over as the industry chases capacity for artificial intelligence workloads. Applied’s latest outlook pushed that debate back toward “still growing,” with memory now a key swing factor.
U.S. stock markets are closed on Monday for Washington’s Birthday, also known as Presidents Day, leaving the next clean read on sentiment for Tuesday’s session. That is when fresh broker notes, and any follow-through in peers, tend to hit the tape. (New York Stock Exchange)
Applied forecast second-quarter revenue of about $7.65 billion, plus or minus $500 million, and adjusted profit — numbers that strip out some items — of about $2.64 a share, plus or minus 20 cents. For the quarter ended Jan. 25, the largest U.S. semiconductor equipment maker reported revenue of $7.01 billion and adjusted profit of $2.38 per share, beating Wall Street targets, LSEG data showed. Redburn analyst Timm Schulze-Melander said memory and logic-foundry capital spending were “two sides of the same coin,” with memory the bigger near-term driver. (Reuters)
In its earnings release, Applied said it generated $1.69 billion in cash from operations and returned $702 million to shareholders, including $337 million in share repurchases. CEO Gary Dickerson said demand was “fueled by the acceleration of industry investments in AI computing,” and he said Applied expects its semiconductor equipment business to grow more than 20% this calendar year. CFO Brice Hill said the company has “nearly doubled” system manufacturing capability in recent years to support customers. (GlobeNewswire)
High-bandwidth memory, or HBM, is a stacked form of DRAM that sits next to expensive AI processors and has become a bottleneck across parts of the supply chain. Applied has tied its forecast to that build-out, along with advanced packaging equipment used to connect and stack chips more tightly.
At least 22 brokerages lifted price targets after the report, Reuters counted, and some analysts framed the move as the start of a longer equipment cycle. “We expect a massive wafer fabrication equipment growth cycle over the next three years,” Morningstar’s William Kerwin said, adding that “Artificial intelligence infrastructure demand is immense, and supply is scarce.” Industry group SEMI has forecast chipmaking equipment sales rising to $126 billion in 2026 and $135 billion in 2027, Reuters reported. (Reuters)
Applied’s upbeat guide also helped lift other toolmakers, with Lam Research and KLA gaining on Friday as traders rotated back into semiconductor equipment. The group can swing hard on any hint that chipmakers are trimming capital budgets.
But the backdrop is not clean: export controls and compliance remain a live risk for U.S. toolmakers selling into China. Applied said on Feb. 11 it reached a settlement with the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, agreeing to pay $252.5 million over past shipments, while the Justice Department and the SEC closed related probes without action. (GlobeNewswire)
With markets shut on Monday, the next near-term test is Tuesday’s reopening and whether the sector holds gains without fresh headlines. Nvidia is scheduled to discuss results on Feb. 25, a date investors often use as a checkpoint for AI spending across the chip supply chain. (Nvidia)
