Overview
- Applied Materials and TSMC launched a collaboration at the company’s EPIC research center in Silicon Valley to speed new materials, tools, and processes from the lab into high‑volume chip production.
- Applied Materials acquired ASMPT’s NEXX unit to add electrochemical deposition used in panel‑level advanced packaging, which helps build larger AI accelerators that use less power.
- Citi raised its price target on AMAT to $520, citing a multi‑year jump in wafer fab equipment spending, the tools chipmakers buy to build advanced factories.
- The Citi note flagged Tesla’s proposed Terafab as a possible extra source of equipment demand, which remains unmodeled and uncertain on timing.
- Tight supplies of chipmaking machines are lifting sector demand, and Applied says it has nearly doubled system output to keep up as AI workloads drive orders.