Mizuho Upgrades Applied Materials (AMAT) to Outperform on Global WFE Tailwinds

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is one of the Buzzing AI Stocks on Wall Street. On January 27, Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh upgraded the stock from Neutral to Outperform with a price target of $370.00. The firm sees robust global WFE tailwinds for AMAT.

Being the number 2 WFE supplier, Mizuho sees AMAT benefiting from accelerating US/Taiwan/JP Capex. It expects global WFE spending to grow 13% year-over-year in 2026 and 12% in 2027, a notable acceleration from its prior forecasts.

Mizuho anticipates higher capital spending from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from 2026 to 2028, forecasting TSMC’s 2026 capex rising about 32% year on year to $54 billion and increasing further in 2027.

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The firm also highlighted better-than-expected tool spending guidance from Intel and stronger demand tied to high-bandwidth memory, representing an estimated 30% of revenue. These trends are likely to support demand for AMAT’s advanced platforms used in leading-edge manufacturing

“…with Foundry/Logic ~65% of AMAT’s revenues, HIGHER CAPEX from TSMC (2330.TW), covered by Kevin Wang, Buy, TWD2,200PT with 2026–28E capex “significantly higher” than 2023–25, INTC tool capex better in 2026E, and DRAM with HBM upside at ~30% of Revs”

Mizuho further added how China is becoming less of a headwind as ex-China WFE revenues, which are around 70%, are accelerating faster.

“With SIGNIFICANT global WFE tailwinds and upside from TSMC/INTC capex spend expectations, we are UPGRADING AMAT to Outperform and take our PT to $370.”

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) is a leader in materials engineering solutions engaged in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries.

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