The Zhitong Finance App learned that Applied Materials (AMAT.US) announced the fourth quarter and full year results for the 2026 fiscal year after the market on Thursday. Financial reports showed that its Q4 revenue was $10.41 billion, up about 53% year over year, higher than market expectations of about $10.3 billion; adjusted earnings per share were $4.16, up about 92% year over year, higher than the forecast of $4.06.
Driven by the expansion of AI chip production, the core Semiconductor Systems (Semiconductor Systems) business's Q4 revenue reached $8 billion, up 64% year over year. The company forecasts revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 to be higher than Wall Street expectations, and is betting that strong demand for advanced artificial intelligence chips will continue to drive its spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Looking at the full year, the company's revenue was US$34.45 billion, a record high; GAAP earnings per share of US$12.62 and non-GAAP earnings of US$12.89 per share (up 37% year over year) were all record; operating cash flow of US$8.87 billion was returned to shareholders for the whole year (US$3.18 billion in repurchases and US$1.57 billion in dividends).
In terms of guidance, the company expects Q1 revenue for the 2027 fiscal year to be about US$11.1 billion (fluctuating up and down US$500 million), which is higher than analysts' average expectations of about US$10.89 billion; adjusted earnings per share are about US$4.35 (up and down $0.20), which is also higher than expected. The company determined that strong demand for advanced AI chips would continue to drive investment in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and the stock price rose by about 3% after the market.
CEO Gary Dickerson said in a statement that the 2026 fiscal year was a record, and the semiconductor systems business is expected to grow by more than 40% throughout the 2026 calendar year, “AI continues to drive incremental demand for semiconductors.”
At the end of October, Dickerson made it clear that it plans to double the company's revenue in the next few years, mainly to improve R&D and quality control efficiency, and use the $5 billion EPIC R&D center in Silicon Valley to accelerate next-generation chip research and development; however, the expansion of US export controls to China caused the company to expect to lose about 600 million US dollars in revenue in the 2026 fiscal year, and the Chinese market is still its biggest policy variable.