The semiconductor equipment industry is entering 2026 with a stronger demand backdrop than the broader cyclical slump of 2022-2023 suggested. Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales rose 15% year over year to $135.1 billion in 2025, according to SEMI, supported by investment in advanced logic, memory, and AI-related capacity expansion. That matters because equipment suppliers sit close to the physical bottleneck of the AI buildout: no fabs, no advanced chips; no tools, no fabs. Tiny supply-chain goblin math, but expensive.
The outlook also remains constructive. SEMI expects global semiconductor equipment sales to keep climbing through 2027, with the market projected to reach a record $156 billion, helped by spending on AI accelerators, high-performance computing, premium mobile processors, test equipment, and advanced packaging. Gartner’s April 2026 semiconductor forecast provides additional context, projecting worldwide semiconductor revenue to exceed $1.3 trillion in 2026, driven by strength in memory pricing and AI-related demand.
For investors, this makes semiconductor equipment a more selective but still important part of the chip supply chain. The group includes companies tied to wafer fabrication, process control, test systems, packaging, and materials handling. As chipmakers expand and upgrade capacity for AI, high-bandwidth memory, advanced logic, and complex packaging, equipment suppliers remain central to the next leg of semiconductor investment.
Methodology
For this article, we screened U.S.-listed semiconductor equipment and materials stocks and ranked them by short interest as a percentage of float, with lower short float ranking higher on the list. Short float was used as the primary ranking metric because it indicates lower bearish positioning in a stock. We sourced short float figures from stockanalysis.com.
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7. Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS)
Percentage of Short Float: 2.90%
Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS) is one of the best semiconductor equipment stocks to buy.
On May 8, the company appointed Guy Shechter as president and chief operating officer, effective May 19. Amtech said Shechter has held commercial and general management roles at semiconductor equipment and advanced packaging equipment companies, including Yield Engineering Systems and Veeco Instruments. The company said his customer relationships and industry experience will be important as Amtech expands its portfolio around AI semiconductor packaging and assembly applications.
That leadership move followed a May 1 CFO appointment, where Amtech said Thomas Sabol’s experience would help the company scale during a period of demand for advanced packaging and enterprise board assembly equipment tied to the AI infrastructure buildout. The operating signal also supports the story: on May 7, Amtech said AI product demand drove 31% year-over-year revenue growth in its fiscal second quarter, with strong demand for reflow equipment used in AI applications and higher-margin AI advanced packaging solutions.
Amtech Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYS) provides equipment, consumables, and services for AI semiconductor device packaging, advanced wafer substrate fabrication, advanced packaging, electronics assembly, silicon carbide devices, silicon power devices, and related semiconductor applications.
6. KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)
Percentage of Short Float: 2.56%
KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is one of the best semiconductor equipment stocks to buy.
On April 29, KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) reported fiscal third-quarter revenue of $3.415 billion, above the midpoint of its guidance range, while non-GAAP diluted EPS came in at $9.40. The company also guided for fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $3.575 billion, plus or minus $200 million. Management said KLA remains confident in its 2026 outlook and pointed to its role in the AI ecosystem, including foundry/logic, memory, advanced packaging, and services.
Reuters added that KLA’s guidance came in above analyst revenue estimates, supported by demand for tools used as chipmakers increase production of high-end AI processors. Reuters also noted that more complex AI chips are raising process-control intensity, which increases the need for inspection and yield-management tools.
KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) provides process-control and process-enabling equipment, software, and services used in semiconductor wafer, reticle, integrated circuit, packaging, and printed circuit board manufacturing.
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