How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.
FOMO, or the fear of missing out, also plays a role in investing, particularly with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Applied Materials (AMAT) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to AMAT for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Applied Materials' Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Applied Materials' main business drivers.
Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials is a leading supplier of equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices, flat panel displays and solar photovoltaic (PV) products. The company also provides deployment and support services for the tools it installs at customer fabs.
Applied Materials currently reports results in three segments. Semiconductor Systems is the largest segment and includes equipment used in front-end semiconductor manufacturing, including the 200-millimeter equipment business, which was moved into Semiconductor Systems beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2026. Applied Global Services provides spares, upgrades, service contracts and other productivity solutions that help customers improve uptime, output and yield across a large installed base. Other primarily includes the Display business and certain corporate activities.
Applied Materials’ semiconductor equipment portfolio supports front-end operations in the chipmaking process. These steps involve the deposition or implantation of multiple thin layers of electronically conductive, semiconductive and insulating materials onto and within a silicon wafer, using photomasks (reticles) to create multiple copies of integrated circuit devices.
With over 33,000 systems installed, Applied Global Services supports customers through a mix of parts, upgrades and service programs.
Applied Materials has developed technologies for larger-sized wafers made of materials other than silicon. This has expanded its portfolio into equipment for the thin film transistor (TFT) LCDs (made from glass) and OLED, which are used in smartphones, TVs and other consumer electronic devices. The company operates this business under Display, which is included in the Other category.
Being a leading producer of specialized equipment, most of the competition comes from other large equipment makers, such as KLAC and LRCX.
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Applied Materials a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in July 2016 would be worth $24,167.67, or a 2,316.77% gain, as of July 13, 2026, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
In comparison, the S&P 500's gained 255.67% and the price of gold went up 193.80% over the same time frame.
Analysts are anticipating more upside for AMAT.
Applied Materials is benefiting from AI-driven demand that is shifting wafer fabrication equipment spending toward leading-edge foundry-logic, DRAM and advanced packaging, where it holds leading process positions. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, the company delivered record revenue and the highest gross margin in more than two decades, and management sees better multi-quarter visibility as customers share longer-range forecasts. New gate-all-around and packaging products, expanding EPIC collaborations, and a growing services attach rate support value-based pricing and operating leverage. Offsetting these positives are high China exposure amid changing export rules, the inherently cyclical nature of capital spending, and intense competition across process steps.
The stock is up 6.21% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 11 higher, for fiscal 2026. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).