Overview
- Applied Materials launched a broad set of deposition, etch, plating, packaging and electron‑beam inspection systems on Thursday and posted Q2 results that beat estimates, with EPS of $2.86 and revenue of $7.91 billion.
- The new systems include Centura Prime Epi for doped silicon growth, Opta Quad CMP for hybrid bonding polishing, Nokota VMax 2 for copper plating, Producer Avila 2 for thin DRAM dielectric films, and two new e‑beam tools VeritySEM 7AP and SEMVision G7AP.
- Applied said SEMVision G7AP is already in production at memory and logic manufacturers, and the company issued Q3 EPS guidance of $3.16 to $3.56 and a full‑year EPS forecast of $12.10.
- Major sell‑side firms raised price targets after the announcements, with Wells Fargo at $715, Bank of America at $720 and Citi at $710, while Applied plans roughly a 25% workforce increase in Southeast Asia centered on Singapore to boost capacity.
- Investors are cautious because insiders sold about 199,767 shares worth more than $114 million recently and valuation multiples look stretched, which could leave the stock exposed if wafer‑fab equipment demand weakens.