Applied Materials' stock surged 5.04% intraday on Tuesday, driven by a wave of positive analyst sentiment and upward revisions to industry forecasts.

Mizuho recently raised its target price on Applied Materials from $500 to $540 while maintaining an Outperform rating. This follows Bernstein's upward revision of global wafer fabrication equipment spending forecasts from $141 billion to $148 billion, representing a 21.4% year-over-year increase. Bernstein noted that Applied Materials has the highest exposure to advanced logic and DRAM among the three major equipment makers, making it a top pick in the sector.

The bullish consensus has been reinforced by Wolfe Research, Argus, and multiple other investment banks that have also raised target prices in recent weeks. The broader semiconductor equipment sector showed strong momentum, with the positive sentiment driven by rising AI infrastructure demand and elevated capital expenditure expectations across the industry.