Applied Materials Falls 6% on AI Pacing Worries

Applied Materials shares fell 6% to $429.71 on Monday, 14 September 2026. The decline extends a 22% slide over the past month as investors reassess future equipment demand. Other toolmakers also dropped, with Lam Research falling 6% to $279.18 and ASML sliding 5% to $1,606.66. Meanwhile, the iShares Semiconductor ETF lost 5% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust slipped 0.78%.

The sell-off followed weekend comments by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who urged frontier artificial intelligence companies to slow capability improvements. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the head of xAI publicly agreed with the stance. Neil Wilson, UK strategist at Saxo, noted that analysts would assess the potential impact on earnings and valuations if companies erect guardrails and slow development. The Bank for International Settlements added on Monday that rising concerns over AI profitability and profit margin sustainability were fuelled by increasing debt leverage among major US technology firms.

The potential pullback in artificial intelligence capital spending hits equipment makers directly. Toolmakers rely on future semiconductor factory expansion plans rather than immediate chip shipments. Applied Materials had recently reported record fiscal third-quarter revenue of $9.12 billion, up 25% year over year and ahead of forecasts, while also guiding fourth-quarter revenue above expectations. However, investors are now questioning whether that rapid growth pace can continue.

The company's next scheduled events include the unveiling of its EPIC Center in Silicon Valley on 12 October, followed by an investor breakfast presentation on 13 October.