BE Semiconductor Shares Jump After Applied Materials Increases Stake
By Joe Stonor
Be Semiconductor Industries shares jumped after fellow semiconductor-equipment maker Applied Materials said it would increase its stake in the company to 20% of outstanding shares.
Shares rose 9.2% to 13.40 euros in morning European trade, helping to lift the stock away from year-to-date lows hit earlier this month.
California-based Applied Materials said it would increase its ownership stake via an accelerated share purchase agreement. The company initially invested in Besi in April 2025, and the two companies started collaborating in 2020.
Even without increasing its stake, Applied Materials is currently Besi's largest shareholder, owning 9% of outstanding shares, according to LSEG. At Besi's Monday closing price, an 11% increase in Applied Material's position would cost the company 1.30 billion euros, or around $1.45 billion.
Applied Materials has no current plans to further increase its stake in Besi, nor will it seek representation on the Amsterdam-listed group's board, the company said.
"Applied Materials is adding to its investment in Besi as hybrid bonding technology and next-generation interconnect architectures become increasingly critical enablers of energy-efficient AI compute performance," said Prabu Raja, president of Applied Materials' semiconductor products group.
Applied Materials and Besi collaborate on product development, with Besi recently joining Applied Materials' research-and-development center as an innovation partner.
Besi shares have dropped by around 54% since their June highs, as jitters around the artificial-intelligence buildout and concerns around demand for Besi's hybrid bonding technology weighed on the stock.
Write to Joe Stonor at josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
This was corrected at 6:58 a.m. ET because the original version misstated Applied Materials' name in the headline as Advanced Materials and the share price of BE Semiconductor Industries as 9.2% in the article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2026 06:23 ET (10:23 GMT)
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