Applied Materials' stock surged 13.93% intraday on Friday, reflecting a significant upward move for the semiconductor equipment maker.

The sharp rise follows the company's release of fiscal first-quarter results that exceeded market expectations, with both earnings and sales coming in above estimates. Importantly, Applied Materials issued second-quarter revenue and profit guidance that was substantially higher than analyst consensus. CEO Gary Dickerson stated that the company expects its semiconductor business to grow by more than 20% this year, fueled by accelerating industry investments in artificial intelligence computing.

Analysts highlighted that Applied Materials is a key beneficiary of the AI boom, which is driving unprecedented spending on semiconductor manufacturing capacity, particularly for leading-edge logic chips, high-bandwidth memory, and advanced packaging technologies. The company's optimistic outlook and strong positioning in the memory-chip supercycle prompted multiple Wall Street firms to raise their price targets on the stock.