APPLIED MATERIALS INC /DE files 10-Q: quarterly report (10-Q)
The following management’s discussion and analysis is provided in addition to the accompanying consolidated condensed financial statements and notes, and for a full understanding of our results of operations and financial condition should be read in conjunction with the consolidated condensed financial statements and notes included in this Form 10-Q and the financial statements and notes for the fiscal year ended October 26, 2025 contained in our Form 10-K filed on December 12, 2025.
Overview
We provide equipment, services and software to the semiconductor and related industries. Our customers include manufacturers of semiconductor wafers and chips and other electronic devices. Our customers’ products are used in a wide variety of products such as personal computing devices, mobile phones, artificial intelligence (AI) and data center servers, automobiles, connected devices, industrial applications and consumer electronics. Each of our segments is subject to variable industry conditions, as demand for equipment and services can change depending on supply and demand for chips and other electronic devices, as well as other factors, such as global economic, political and market conditions, and the nature and timing of technological advances in fabrication processes.
Our strategic priorities include developing products that help solve customers’ challenges at technology inflections, growing our service business, and expanding our served market opportunities in the semiconductor industry. Our long-term growth strategy requires continued development of new materials engineering capabilities, including products and platforms that enable expansion into new and adjacent markets. Our significant investments in research, development and engineering (RD&E) are intended to enable us to deliver new products and technologies before the emergence of strong demand, allowing customers to incorporate these products into their manufacturing plans during early-stage technology selection. We collaborate closely with our global customers to design systems and processes to meet their technical and production requirements.
Our future operating results depend to a considerable extent on our ability to maintain a competitive advantage in the equipment and service products we provide. Development cycles depend on whether the product is an enhancement of an existing product, which typically has a shorter development cycle, or a new product, which typically has a longer development cycle. Most of our existing products resulted from internal development activities and innovations involving new technologies, materials and processes. In certain instances, we acquire technologies, either in existing or new product areas, to complement our existing technology capabilities and to reduce time to market. Product development and manufacturing activities occur primarily in the United States, Europe, Israel, and Asia. Our portfolio of equipment and service products is highly technical and is sold primarily through a direct sales force.
We believe that it is critical to make substantial investments in RD&E to assure the availability of innovative technology that meets the current and projected requirements of our customers’ most advanced designs. We have invested and continue to invest in RD&E in order to continue to offer new products and technologies.
We operate in two reportable segments: Semiconductor Systems and Applied Global Services® (AGS). A summary of financial information for each reportable segment is found in Note 14 of Notes to Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements. A discussion of factors that could affect our operations is set forth under “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Our results are driven primarily by customer spending on capital equipment and services to support key technology transitions or changes in production volume in response to worldwide demand for semiconductors.
The Semiconductor Systems segment is comprised primarily of capital equipment used to fabricate semiconductor chips. Spending by semiconductor customers, which include companies that operate in the foundry, logic, memory, and other semiconductor chip markets, is driven by demand for products such as smartphones, mobile devices, personal computers (PC), servers for AI and data centers, automobiles, clean energy, storage, and other products, and the nature and timing of technological advances in fabrication processes. The growth of data and emerging end-market drivers such as AI, the internet of things, robotics and smart vehicles are also creating the next wave of growth for the industry. As a result, products within the Semiconductor Systems segment are subject to significant changes in customer requirements, including transitions to smaller dimensions, increasingly complex chip architectures, new materials and an increasing number of applications. Spending can also depend on customer facility readiness and timeline for installation of capital equipment at customer sites. Development efforts are focused on solving customers’ key technical challenges in patterning, transistor, interconnect, process control, and packaging performance.
The AGS segment provides services, spares and factory automation software to customer fabrication plants globally to help customers optimize performance of our large, global installed base of semiconductor and other products. Demand for AGS’ service and spares is driven by our large and growing installed base of manufacturing systems, and customers’ needs to shorten ramp times, improve system performance, and optimize factory output and operating costs. Industry conditions that affect AGS’ sales of spares and services are primarily characterized by changes in semiconductor manufacturers’ wafer starts and utilization rates, growth of the installed base of equipment and growing service intensity of newer tools. Our strategy is to continue to shift the AGS’ service and spares business to a subscription agreement model, improving customer factory performance and optimizing operating costs, and providing us a more predictable revenue stream.
The United States government has implemented export regulations for U.S. semiconductor technology sold or provided to customers in China, which have limited our ability to provide certain products and services to customers in China, over the past several years. The U.S. government continues to issue new export licensing requirements, and additional updates and other requirements that have had the effect of further limiting our ability to provide certain products and services to customers outside the U.S., including in China. Also, the United States has announced changes to its trade policy, including increased tariffs on imports. These actions have caused substantial uncertainty and have resulted in retaliatory measures, including new tariffs on U.S. goods imposed by China and other countries.