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B. Riley Bullish on Applied Materials (AMAT); Sees Better Outlook for Semiconductor Capital Spending

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) secures a spot on our list of the best memory stocks to buy according to analysts.

As of April 20, 2026, Wall Street remained strongly positive on Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT), with 81% of analysts covering the stock assigning “Buy” ratings. The highest price target on the Street stands at $500, which implies roughly 27.2% upside.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) picked up fresh Wall Street backing on April 13, 2026.

Riley analyst Craig Ellis took the firm’s price target to $485 from $450 and kept a “Buy” rating on Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT). His case rested on a better outlook for semiconductor capital spending from 2026 through 2028, as chipmakers keep putting money into advanced-node capacity to build more complex processors.

The company’s own management commentary lines up with that view.

Customers are moving faster on node migrations and taking on more complex 3D scaling technologies. Meanwhile, spending at the leading edge, in advanced packaging, and in memory, specifically DRAM and HBM, has stayed firm.

How customers are spending is also influencing Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s internal priorities.

In its Q1 2026 earnings call, management said R&D funding and capacity expansion in key product lines will continue. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is also working on its supply chain, adding supplier qualifications, dual-sourcing where possible, localizing certain components, and tightening up operations. The R&D agenda covers gate-all-around, backside power, advanced packaging, EUV-related adjacencies, new scaling materials, and AI-enabled metrology and inspection work.

One other detail from the call: Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) said its line of sight into HBM-related tool demand now extends across multiple quarters.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is the global leader in materials engineering solutions, providing the equipment, services, and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips and advanced displays. They also enable chipmakers to create smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient electronics, serving as foundational technologies for AI and consumer electronics.

While we acknowledge the risk and potential of AMAT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMAT and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years.

Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

A few years from now, you’ll wish you’d owned this stock.

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Wall Street calls this $3 stock a “Melting Ice Cube.” They said the same thing about BTI before it returned 90%.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

My name is Inan Dogan. I’m the co-founder and Research Director of Insider Monkey. I have an important message for you today.

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We looked under the cover and realized they were wrong.

We alerted our subscribers, and BTI returned 90% in just 16 months.

Now if you had invested just $10,000 in BTI in June 2024, you’d be sitting on $19,000 in October 2025.

Today, we have identified a nearly identical pattern in a digital-first giant trading at $3.

While the market panics over a surface-level revenue decline, our PhD-led research shows management has actually surgically cut $100 million in waste to focus on high-margin growth.

This pattern is a hallmark of our 16.5% annual return track record. The current opportunity offers a 400% upside potential—dwarfing even our 90% BTI return.

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