Trump administration eyes beefing up Biden-era chip curbs on China - report

Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst

AMAT+0.88%

ASML-0.63%

LRCX-1.56%

Source: SeekingAlpha

Updated: Feb 25 2025

0mins

Source: SeekingAlpha

Trump Administration's Chip Restrictions: The Trump administration is planning to enhance chip restrictions on China, collaborating with allies like Japan and the Netherlands to limit their semiconductor industry's access to U.S. technology.
Focus on AI and Military Applications: Proposed sanctions may target specific Chinese companies and tighten regulations on AI chip exports, building upon existing Biden-era efforts to restrict China's access to advanced semiconductor technologies.

AMAT

$321.595+Infinity%1D

Analyst Views on AMAT

Wall Street analysts forecast AMAT stock price to fall over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for AMAT is 288.05 USD with a low forecast of 190.00 USD and a high forecast of 425.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

22 Analyst Rating

18 Buy

4 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 318.785

Low

190.00

Averages

288.05

High

425.00

Current: 318.785

Low

190.00

Averages

288.05

High

425.00

Deutsche Bank

Melissa Weathers

Hold

Buy

upgrade

$275 -> $390

2026-01-23

New

Reason

Deutsche Bank

Melissa Weathers

Price Target

$275 -> $390

AI Analysis

2026-01-23

New

upgrade

Hold

Buy

Reason

Deutsche Bank analyst Melissa Weathers upgraded Applied Materials to Buy from Hold with a price target of $390, up from $275. The firm upped estimates for the company to reflect a "much more constructive" wafer fab equipment environment entering 2026 and 2027. Deutsche's out-year estimates are now 10% above the Street, with potential upside risk, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm views Applied Materials' current discount valuation to peers as overdone. it sees potential for the gap to shrink going forward.

Needham

Charles Shi

Strong Buy

upgrade

$260 -> $390

2026-01-20

New

Reason

Needham

Charles Shi

Price Target

$260 -> $390

2026-01-20

New

upgrade

Strong Buy

Reason

Needham analyst Charles Shi raised the firm's price target on Applied Materials to $390 from $260 and keeps a Strong Buy rating on the shares. Commentary from the Needham Growth Conference pointed to broad-based demand improvement over the past 90 days, supporting a bullish sector outlook, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Despite strong year-to-date performance, the direction for semicap remains positive, with Q4 earnings expected to deliver multiple catalysts, the firm says.

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KeyBanc

Overweight

maintain

$285 -> $380

2026-01-16

Reason

KeyBanc

Price Target

$285 -> $380

2026-01-16

maintain

Overweight

Reason

KeyBanc raised the firm's price target on Applied Materials (AMAT) to $380 from $285 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm notes Applied Materials' multiple expansion has lagged front-end peers KLA Corp. (KLAC) and Lam Research (LRCX). KeyBanc thinks that more muted expansion is a function of the company's higher exposure to trailing edge nodes for both China and ROW customers. The firm understands that underperformance but notes Applied Materials is the most diversified supplier and should benefit from increasing deposition and etch intensity as chip architecture at the leading edge goes vertical.

Goldman Sachs

James Schneider

Buy

maintain

$250 -> $310

2026-01-09

Reason

Goldman Sachs

James Schneider

Price Target

$250 -> $310

2026-01-09

maintain

Buy

Reason

Goldman Sachs analyst James Schneider raised the firm's price target on Applied Materials to $310 from $250 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Applied Materials remains well positioned as etch and deposition demand intensifies, with tight DRAM and NAND markets expected to drive strong equipment orders in 2026-2027, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The company's China exposure is now largely normalized, reducing risk relative to peers, the firm says.

About AMAT

Applied Materials, Inc. is a materials engineering solution company. The Company provides equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It operates in three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services (AGS), and Display. The Semiconductor systems segment designs, develops, manufactures and sells a range of primarily 300 mm equipment used to fabricate semiconductor chips, also referred to as integrated circuits (ICs). The AGS segment provides services, spares and factory automation software to customer fabrication plants globally. The AGS segment also manufactures and sells 200mm and other equipment. The Display segment is comprised primarily of products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and other display technologies for televisions, monitors, laptops, personal computers (PCs), tablets, smartphones, and other consumer-oriented devices.

About the author

Emily J. Thompson

Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.