Applied Materials, the company that essentially builds the machines that build the chips that power everything from AI data centers to crypto mining rigs, jumped 15% in a single trading session. And it’s still more than 30% below its previous highs.
The semiconductor equipment maker is scheduled to report fiscal Q3 2026 earnings on August 13, with analysts expecting earnings per share of $3.38.
Record revenue and an AI-fueled tailwind
The company posted record revenue of $7.91 billion for Q2 FY2026, a figure reported on May 14 that represented an 11% increase year-over-year.
Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $2.86, up 20% compared to the same period a year earlier.
The driving force behind all of this is AI. Specifically, the explosive demand for semiconductor equipment used in manufacturing AI chips, DRAM, and advanced packaging technologies. Applied Materials raised its full-year outlook on the back of this demand.
Applied Materials doesn’t make the chips themselves. It makes the equipment that chipmakers use to fabricate those chips. The company has been identified among the top semiconductor names expected to lead what some analysts are calling a multi-trillion-dollar equipment and chip rally through 2026. Its main competitor in this space, Lam Research, is riding a similar wave, but Applied Materials’ breadth across logic, memory, and packaging gives it a diversified edge.
Why a 30% discount to highs matters
That AMAT remains more than 30% below its previous high watermark tells you something important. The stock got crushed during the broader semiconductor selloff earlier this year, and despite this bounce, investors haven’t fully bought back in.
If Applied Materials delivers another beat-and-raise quarter, with EPS clearing the $3.38 consensus, the stock could have significant room to run before it even approaches its old highs.
The crypto hardware connection
Applied Materials doesn’t have a token, doesn’t operate on any blockchain, and isn’t part of the crypto ecosystem in any direct sense. But the semiconductor supply chain it anchors has real implications for crypto mining and blockchain infrastructure.
Every Bitcoin miner, every ASIC chip, every GPU used for proof-of-work or AI-adjacent crypto applications depends on the same fabrication ecosystem that Applied Materials equips. When semiconductor manufacturing capacity expands and chip fabrication technology advances, the downstream effects ripple into mining hardware availability, cost, and efficiency.
For crypto-focused investors watching traditional markets, the key metric to track on August 13 won’t just be whether AMAT beats on EPS. It will be the company’s commentary on advanced packaging demand and DRAM capacity expansion, both of which directly influence the semiconductor supply dynamics that determine mining hardware roadmaps.