Applied Materials slides about 7% after investor day gives no spending outlook
Chip equipment stocks fell harder than the wider chip sector.
AI and chips · Tuesday, October 13, 2026 · 3:45 PM ET
Applied Materials, the chipmaking equipment maker, fell about 7% in midday trading Tuesday after its investor day, adding to a rough session for chip stocks. Investing.com had it down 7.4% at $460.59 at one point, and Seeking Alpha and 24/7 Wall St. both described a drop of about 7%.
No spending forecast
Investing.com says investors had hoped for a clear outlook for wafer fabrication equipment spending, and the company declined to give one. It pointed to cleanroom space, supply chains and energy infrastructure financing as factors clouding near-term visibility. Investing.com also reports concern about a decline in the company's share of that market from a year earlier, and notes the stock trades at about 39 to 40 times forward earnings.
Equipment makers fell more than the sector
24/7 Wall St. reports Lam Research and KLA each fell about 4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF was down about 1%. It says Applied Materials was still up about 80% for the year even after the drop, and that China accounts for 28% of its revenue. The investor day followed the company's $5 billion EPIC Center in Sunnyvale, which Investing.com says Evercore ISI called a compelling strategic move while keeping its $700 price target.
The move came on top of the wider chip selloff we covered earlier: chip selloff reaches Wall Street and the Asia chip rout.