Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares closed higher by 4.9% to $183.26 Monday following the Biden administration's announcement of expanded export controls targeting China's semiconductor industry.
The new restrictions, aimed at limiting China's access to advanced chipmaking technologies, are expected to redirect global demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment toward companies like Applied Materials, a leader in this space.
What To Know: Applied Materials, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is one of the world's largest suppliers of materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every advanced semiconductor.
The company's expertise spans deposition, etching, metrology and inspection technologies essential for creating chips used in AI, data centers and advanced memory applications.
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The latest U.S. measures add 140 Chinese entities to an export blacklist, tightening the flow of high-end chipmaking tools. This includes a broadened scope of restrictions on advanced tools critical for fabricating cutting-edge chips.
Applied Materials, whose tools are pivotal in manufacturing next-generation semiconductors, stands to benefit as global semiconductor firms outside of China ramp up production to fill the gap left by sanctioned Chinese players.
What Else: Furthermore, the sanctions align with agreements between the U.S., Japan and the Netherlands, shielding companies like Applied Materials from competition in certain restricted markets. This could bolsters the company's market position as it serves key global customers.
The geopolitical shift away from Chinese suppliers is likely to increase demand for Applied Materials' equipment, particularly in regions like Taiwan, South Korea and the United States, where investments in semiconductor manufacturing are surging.
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Investors can gain exposure to AMAT by investing in the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH).
How To Buy AMAT Stock
By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Applied Materials – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.
Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy ‘fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, or Amazon.com, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.
In the the case of Applied Materials, which is trading at $183.0 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 0.55 shares of stock.
If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to ‘go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.
According to data from Benzinga Pro, AMAT has a 52-week high of $255.89 and a 52-week low of $144.57.
