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Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Applied Materials a Decade Ago

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How much a stock's price changes over time is important for most investors, since price performance can both impact your investment portfolio and help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to AMAT for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Applied Materials' Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Applied Materials' main business drivers.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials is one of the world’s largest suppliers of equipment for the fabrication of semiconductor, flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. The company also offers deployment and support services related to the equipment supplied.

In fiscal year 2022, Applied reported results in three segments—Semiconductor Systems (73% of total 2022 revenue), Applied Global Services (22%) and Display and Adjacent Markets (5%).

Applied Materials’ Silicon segment offers equipment for front-end operations in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Front-end processes involve the deposition or implantation of multiple thin layers of electronically conductive, semiconductive and insulating materials onto and within a silicon wafer with the help of photomasks (reticles) to give multiple copies of integrated circuit devices.

With over 33,000 systems installed, the Applied Global Services segment goes a long way to ensure customer satisfaction and support. There are primarily three kinds of services offered.

Applied has developed technologies for significantly larger-sized wafers made of materials other than silicon. This has helped it expand its portfolio into equipment for thin film transistor (TFT) LCDs (made from glass) and OLED, which are used in smartphones, TVs and other consumer electronic devices. The company operates this business under the Display segment.

The Energy and Environmental Solutions segment primarily consists of the solar product line. Currently, the company offers equipment for manufacturing both wafer-based crystalline silicon (c-Si) and glass-based thin film used in the solar PV cell fabrication process.

Being a leading producer of specialized equipment, most of the competition comes from other large equipment makers, such as KLAC and LRCX.

Bottom Line

Putting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For Applied Materials, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in August 2013 would be worth $9,441.25, or a gain of 844.13%, as of August 23, 2023, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.

In comparison, the S&P 500 gained 164.80% and the price of gold went up 30.54% over the same time frame.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for AMAT.

Applied Materials’ fiscal third quarter results were driven by record sales of 200-mm systems. Moreover, strength in Applied Global Services (AGS) segment owing to solid adoption of 200-mm systems and strengthening subscription business, was a plus. Notably, the stock has outperformed its industry on a year-to-date basis. AMAT remains optimistic about its strategies and investments in IoT and AI. Additionally, its strength in IoT, Communications, Auto, Power and Sensors (ICAPS) is likely to continue aiding its position in the semiconductor industry in the days ahead. Further, its broad-based, diversified portfolio and strong services business remain its key growth drivers. However, sluggishness in its Display segment remains a concern. Also, weakening demand environment and inflationary pressure are headwinds.

The stock is up 5.56% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 10 higher, for fiscal 2023. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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