Quick Read
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AMAT turned a $1,000 investment into nearly $19,000 over 10 years, a 1,792% return driven by AI chip demand pushing fiscal Q3 revenue to a record $9.1B.
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AMAT crushed the S&P 500 at every time horizon, but a 2021 buyer waited four years before AI demand delivered most gains in a single year.
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Customers are sharing forecasts extending to 2030, margins have expanded 13 straight quarters, yet a trailing P/E of 43 leaves little cushion if chip spending pauses.
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Just released. Our analysts combed the entire stock market and named the ten best stocks to buy right now, and Applied Materials didn’t make the cut. Enter your email to see the names that beat AMAT. The report is free. Enter your email and see if any of your stocks made the cut.
How a Chip Toolmaker Became an AI Bottleneck
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) builds the machines that make the chips. Picture a chip as a microscopic city built in layers. Deposition tools lay down films of material only atoms thick. Etch tools carve circuit patterns into those films. Inspection tools check the work. Memory makers and leading-edge foundries all need this equipment before a single chip ships.
Over the past decade, Applied rode one wave after another: smartphone silicon, then the cloud data center expansion, and now AI infrastructure. The ride had rough periods. Equipment spending moves in cycles, and the stock traded at $123 in October 2021 and only $208.77 four years later. Export controls also cut China’s share of revenue to 28% from 35%, and the company paid a $253M settlement with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in fiscal Q1 2026.
Then AI demand exceeded chip supply. Fiscal Q3 2026 revenue hit a record $9.1 billion, up 25% year over year. DRAM revenue, including high-bandwidth memory packaging, grew 52%. Management guided fiscal Q4 to $10.25 billion, up 51%.
Your $1,000 Grew to Nearly $19,000
1-Year Return
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Why Didn’t AMAT Make The Top 10 List?
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And AMAT didn’t make the cut!
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Initial Investment: $1,000
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Current Value: $2,287.10
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Total Return: 128.71%
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S&P 500 (same period): $1,191.80 (19.18%)
