Applied Materials Is a Dominant WFE Provider With a Wide Moat

Applied Materials is the largest supplier in the world of wafer fabrication equipment for semiconductors. It holds the broadest portfolio, in our view, which we think should enable it to maintain its leading market share. In our view, Applied Materials' breadth in chip manufacturing gives it stickier inroads to customers by selling integrated solutions across technologies. We expect Applied Materials to grow at a mid-single-digit pace over the course of market cycles as it benefits from trends toward more-complex chips into the long term, including gate all-around transistors, advanced packaging, and artificial intelligence.