On July 21, Applied Materials rose 4.59% in pre-market trading, trading at $551.0 per share, with turnover of $6.22 million. The stock extended its upward momentum following a broad-based semiconductor rally sparked by Micron Technology's strong earnings report.

On the news front, Micron Technology previously reported robust quarterly results and issued optimistic revenue guidance for the August quarter, sending its shares surging 15.7% and lifting the entire chip sector. Applied Materials had already gained 13.4% in a prior session and continues to ride the wave of positive sentiment. The semiconductor equipment sector moved higher in tandem, with peers Lam Research up 4.64%, KLA-Tencor up 4.79%, and Teradyne up 5.17%.

Additionally, Jefferies recently raised its global wafer fabrication equipment market forecast to $253 billion by 2028, driven by AI and HBM-related advanced logic and memory capital expenditure. Citi and UBS both lifted their price targets on Applied Materials to $705, reflecting institutional optimism toward long-term AI-driven equipment demand. The company is scheduled to report its next earnings on August 13, with consensus EPS expected at $3.36.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)