AMAT · News · 20261018N

Competition and Market Share

APPLIED MATERIALS INC /DE · 2026-10-18 · Importance 10 · Surprise 6

Applied Materials supplies semiconductor manufacturing equipment rather than chips, serving hundreds of separate process steps in a modern fab. Its product portfolio spans more process steps than major rivals, which generally specialize in one or two equipment categories. This breadth may strengthen customer switching costs and competitive positioning, although the report notes that the durability of the moat depends on how easily customers can substitute alternative suppliers.

Key facts

• The stock returned 9.1% over the last 6 months, compared with a 15.4% return for the Insider Monkey Billionaire Index and 11.4% for the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. source
• Applied Materials makes the machines that make chips and supplies equipment across more of the hundreds of separate steps in a modern chip plant than its big rivals do, which tend to specialize in one or two steps. source
• Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) closed at $430.01 on October 15. source