Applied Materials Sets Ambitious 2030 Targets as AI Spurs Equipment Demand

Management tied market-share, margin and capacity goals to the global AI infrastructure buildout with a pledge to return the majority of free cash flow to shareholders.

Overview

Applied presented long-term targets at SEMICON West on Tuesday and said it aims to gain more than two percentage points of wafer fab equipment market share from 2025 to 2030.
The company expects its eBeam inspection business to deliver about $2 billion in revenue in calendar 2026 and projects services revenue to grow over 20% in 2026 and exceed $12 billion by 2030.
Applied set profitability goals for 2030 of roughly 54% non-GAAP gross margin and 40% non-GAAP operating margin while committing to distribute 80–100% of free cash flow over time.
To support those targets the firm plans to more than double R&D lab and manufacturing capacity by 2030, opened an EPIC Center in Silicon Valley and announced 15 EPIC partnerships plus expanded sites in Austin, Singapore and Italy.
Markets reacted sharply, with the stock falling about 8% intraday as investors weighed the company’s bullish long-range assumptions against a near-40x forward P/E and the well-known cyclicality and policy sensitivity of chip-equipment demand.