Feb 13 (Reuters) - Applied Materials' shares jumped 11.7% in premarket trading on Friday as investors bet that surging AI demand and a tightening memory market will continue to drive orders for the company's chipmaking tools, after it forecast second-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates.
The largest U.S. semiconductor equipment maker is positioned to capitalize on robust AI chip demand, which is consuming global memory supplies and driving chipmakers to expand capacity, a trend analysts say could support multi-year growth.
The Santa Clara, California-based company projected second-quarter revenue of about $7.65 billion, plus or minus $500 million, above analysts' average estimate of $7.01 billion, according to LSEG data.
It forecast adjusted profit of $2.64 per share, compared with estimates of $2.28.
Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson said the quarter was "fueled by the acceleration of industry investments in AI computing," adding that AI workloads were driving demand for higher-performance, more energy efficient chips across leading‑edge logic, high‑bandwidth memory and advanced packaging.
The surge comes as AI data center expansion from hyperscalers and rising demand for high-bandwidth memory are tightening chip supply chains and driving fresh spending on wafer-fab and packaging equipment.
In December, industry group SEMI forecast sales of equipment used to make computer chip wafers will rise about 9% to $126 billion in 2026 and a further 7.3% to $135 billion in 2027.
"AMAT has a leadership position in DRAM/HBM, Advanced Logic, and Packaging and is benefiting from strong GenAI-driven spending," RBC analysts said.
Applied Materials' forecast lifted other chip-equipment stocks. The outlook pushed shares of ASML, the world's biggest supplier of chip equipment, up 1.8%. U.S. peers Lam Research climbed 2%, while KLA gained more than 1% in thin volumes.
Applied Materials shares are up about 28% year-to-date, outperforming the Philadelphia Semiconductor index's 14% gain.
(Reporting by Rashika Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
