How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.
Another thing that can drive investing is the fear of missing out, or FOMO. This particularly applies to tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to AMAT for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Applied Materials' Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Applied Materials' main business drivers.
Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Applied Materials is one of the world's largest suppliers of equipment for the fabrication of semiconductor, flat panel liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. The company also offers deployment and support services related to the equipment supplied.
In fiscal year 2023, Applied reported results in three segments—Semiconductor Systems (74% of total 2023 revenue), Applied Global Services (22%) and Display and Adjacent Markets (4%).
Applied Materials' Silicon segment offers ...