Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), the Santa Clara maker of equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, reports fiscal fourth-quarter results after the US close tomorrow (Thursday). The call is at 4:30 pm ET, after the London close, so UK traders will see the reaction in Friday’s session.
The shares closed today at $395.08, up 6.05% from $372.53, after a steep slide. That leaves them around 47% below the $739.67 high of late June and about 22% below the $507.03 close of the 9th of October. Chip stocks rallied today, and reports linked the bounce to CoreWeave’s results easing fears of an AI slowdown.
On the August call, management guided the quarter to revenue of $10.25B, plus or minus $500M, and adjusted earnings per share of $4.02, plus or minus $0.20. Analysts expect EPS of $4.06, against $2.17 a year earlier, and revenue of about $10.3B, according to Zacks.
| Quarter reported | EPS actual | EPS estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 13 Nov 2025 | $2.17 | $2.09 |
| 12 Feb 2026 | $2.38 | $2.21 |
| 14 May 2026 | $2.86 | $2.69 |
| 13 Aug 2026 | $3.50 | $3.38 |
| 12 Nov 2026 (pending) | Pending | $4.06 (guide $4.02) |
Applied has beaten the EPS estimate four quarters running, yet the shares reportedly fell after the August beat. The headline number is therefore only part of what the market will weigh.
First-quarter guidance is the bigger test. Analyst consensus for that quarter is about $10.83B revenue and $4.23 EPS. That quarter has 14 weeks, and the extra week brings a higher-than-usual step-up in operating costs. Gross margin, the share of sales left after production costs, will be set against the 50.4% guided for this quarter.
DRAM, the memory chips, is the other focus. Chief Financial Officer Brice Hill told the Q3 call on the 13th of August:
Our Fiscal Q4 guidance demonstrates continued strong year-over-year momentum, and in the second half of the calendar year, we expect particularly strong growth in DRAM, as well as leading-edge foundry logic and the advanced packaging for both.
Brice Hill, Chief Financial Officer, Applied Materials
Services, which grew 22% last quarter, and China, which was 26% of semiconductor systems plus services revenue in Q3, are also in focus.
Rival Lam Research reported yesterday, with revenue of $8.22B and a record 52.4% gross margin. Applied’s own results will first trade in the US at Friday’s open.