Jim Cramer Warned About Market Manipulation & Discussed These 22 Stocks

18. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings in Q1 2026: 138

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment provider Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is one of the most crucial stocks in the AI era due to its position at the upstream of the AI supply chain. The shares are up by 187% over the past year and by 67% year-to-date. As per The Fly, Argus discussed Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s shares on May 19th. It raised the share price target to $500 from $420 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. The bank outlined that the chip equipment company’s long term outlook was supported by AI chip demand. Cramer also discussed Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s role in the semiconductor industry:

“I had Applied Materials on last night. Remember, they make the machines that make memory. And everyone’s on allocation. They don’t mean to. They could try it 24/7. Try and make the machines. You can’t keep up with demand if you’re a semiconductor capital equipment company stock. And by the way AMAT when you go to Taiwan Semi, let’s get a little patriotic here for a second, those are AMAT machines in there.

“You know, AMAT changed the way you do contracts. It used to be like, the buyer told AMAT what they needed. Now AMAT is saying, listen, here is what we can offer. And we’re gonna have to do it on a contract basis.”

Impax US Sustainable Economy Fund discussed Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:

“Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) (Information Technology, Semiconductor Materials & Equipment) is owned for its better-than-average Corporate Resilience profile and attractive sustainability opportunities including Resource Efficiency, Enhancing Productivity and Digital Infrastructure. Applied Materials rallied strongly primarily on the back of a blowout February earnings beat, where management guided for over 20% semiconductor equipment revenue growth in calendar 2026 and positioned the company as a direct beneficiary of accelerating AI infrastructure investment in leading-edge logic, high-bandwidth memory, and advanced packaging. Despite a sharp pullback in March on China export control concerns and revenue headwinds, the stock closed the quarter meaningfully higher.”