Applied Materials (AMAT) was upgraded by Barclays on Thursday, as the investment firm thinks any concerns related to China are “overblown.”
“The company has underperformed due to valid concerns around China competition and exposure,” analyst Tom O’Malley wrote in a note to clients. “We think with where the stock has traded (+58% in 2025 vs. KLAC / LRCX at +93% / +137%) that is overblown and the recent uptick in both [foundry and logic] and DRAM spend makes the largest exposure to those verticals worth owning.”
O’Malley raised his rating on Applied Materials to Overweight and upped his price target to $360 from $250.
Shares of the semiconductor equipment firm rose more than 8% on Thursday, while other semiconductor equipment stocks also rose on the back of strong results from Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), which also boosted its capital spending plans for 2026.
