Applied Materials Announces Samsung Electronics Will Join the New, Multibillion-Dollar EPIC Center in Silicon Valley

Rhea-AI Summary

Applied Materials (NYSE: AMAT) announced that Samsung Electronics will join its new $5 billion EPIC Center in Silicon Valley as a founding member. The EPIC Center offers more than 180,000 sq ft of cleanroom space and is on track to be operational in spring 2026. The facility is designed to accelerate commercialization by enabling parallel R&D, targeting atomic-scale materials and process innovations for advanced logic and memory multiple nodes ahead of current technology.

The collaboration aims to shorten traditional 10–15 year development cycles and speed deployment of next-generation patterning, etch and deposition technologies.

Positive

• $5.0 billion EPIC Center is largest U.S. investment in advanced equipment R&D
• Samsung Electronics named as first founding member for collaborative R&D
• 180,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art cleanroom space planned
• Facility on track to be operational in spring 2026
• Program aims to enable parallel development to shorten 10–15 year chip development cycles

Negative

• None.

News Market Reaction

+3.29%

51 alerts

+3.29% News Effect

+9.5% Peak Tracked

-7.5% Trough Tracked

+$8.70B Valuation Impact

$273.26B Market Cap

0.1x Rel. Volume

On the day this news was published, AMAT gained 3.29%, reflecting a moderate positive market reaction. Argus tracked a peak move of +9.5% during that session. Argus tracked a trough of -7.5% from its starting point during tracking. Our momentum scanner triggered 51 alerts that day, indicating high trading interest and price volatility. This price movement added approximately $8.70B to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $273.26B at that time.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

EPIC Center investment: $5 billion EPIC cleanroom space: 180,000 square feet Traditional dev cycle: 10–15 years +5 more

8 metrics

EPIC Center investment $5 billion Capital committed to new Silicon Valley EPIC Center R&D facility

EPIC cleanroom space 180,000 square feet State-of-the-art cleanroom area for collaborative semiconductor R&D

Traditional dev cycle 10–15 years Stated duration of traditional chip development cycles

FY2025 revenue $28.37 billion Record annual revenue, up 4% year-over-year

FY2025 GAAP EPS $8.66 Annual GAAP earnings per share, up 1% year-over-year

FY2025 non-GAAP EPS $9.42 Record annual non-GAAP earnings per share, up 9% YoY

FY2025 non-GAAP free cash flow $5.70 billion Non-GAAP free cash flow, down 24% year-over-year

Q1 FY2026 revenue outlook $6.85B +/- $0.5B Guidance provided with FY2025 earnings release

Market Reality Check

Price: $328.46 Vol: Volume 6,593,064 is below...

normal vol

$328.46 Last Close

Volume Volume 6,593,064 is below the 20-day average of 8,413,807, suggesting no outsized trading interest ahead of this announcement. normal

Technical Shares at $329.07 are trading above the 200-day MA $214.24 and about 4.51% below the $344.60 52-week high.

Peers on Argus

Peers in semiconductor equipment are mixed, with names like LRCX (-1.16%) and AS...

1 Up

Peers in semiconductor equipment are mixed, with names like LRCX (-1.16%) and ASML (-1.76%) down while ENTG is up (+3.33%). Momentum scanners only flag CAMT up about 4.81%, and there is no broad, same-direction move matching AMAT.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Jan 22 (Neutral)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Jan 22	Earnings date notice	Neutral	-2.0%	Scheduled Q1 FY26 results and conference call announcement.
Dec 12	Dividend announcement	Positive	-4.0%	Quarterly cash dividend and long-term capital return details.
Nov 17	Conference participation	Neutral	+1.2%	CFO fireside chat at UBS Global Technology and AI Conference.
Nov 13	Earnings results	Positive	-3.3%	Record FY2025 revenue and EPS with mixed quarterly trends and outlook.
Oct 30	Earnings date notice	Neutral	-1.4%	Announcement of timing for Q4 and FY2025 results and call.

Pattern Detected

Recent history shows occasional share price declines following shareholder-friendly or positive news, such as dividends and record earnings.

Recent Company History

Over the last few months, Applied Materials has highlighted capital returns, record fiscal 2025 results, and ongoing investor engagement. On Nov. 13, 2025, it reported record annual revenue of $28.37B with record non-GAAP EPS of $9.42, yet shares fell about 3.25%. A $0.46 quarterly dividend announcement in Dec. 2025 also coincided with a 4.04% decline. The current EPIC Center partnership with Samsung adds a strategic R&D dimension to this backdrop of financial strength and capital returns.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement highlights a major R&D collaboration, with Samsung joining Applied’s $5 billion EP...

Analysis

This announcement highlights a major R&D collaboration, with Samsung joining Applied’s $5 billion EPIC Center in Silicon Valley, which includes over 180,000 square feet of cleanroom space. The facility aims to cut traditional 10–15 year chip development cycles through parallel, materials-focused innovation across advanced logic and memory. Against a backdrop of record FY2025 revenue of $28.37B and ongoing capital returns, investors may watch how EPIC-driven technologies translate into future orders and margins.

Key Terms

cleanroom, 3d integration, patterning, etch

4 terms

cleanroom technical

"With more than 180,000 square feet of state‑of‑the‑art cleanroom space"

A cleanroom is a tightly controlled workspace where air, particles, microbes, temperature and humidity are kept within strict limits to prevent contamination during manufacturing, testing or research—commonly used for pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical devices and semiconductors. Investors care because a well-designed and operated cleanroom reduces product defects, supports regulatory approval and enables reliable scale-up; think of it as a sterile kitchen that protects delicate recipes, lowering recall risk and helping preserve revenue and margins.

3d integration technical

"future memory architectures and extreme 3D integrationApplied’s new, $5 billion EPIC Center"

3D integration is a way of building computer chips by stacking multiple layers of circuitry on top of each other and connecting them with tiny vertical links, like turning a single-story house into a compact, multi-story apartment. For investors, it matters because stacking can boost speed, reduce power use, and pack more capability into a smaller footprint, which can lead to better-performing products, lower production costs per function, and new market opportunities for chip makers.

patterning technical

"atomic‑scale innovations for advanced patterning, etch and deposition processes"

Patterning is the practice of spotting recurring shapes or sequences in a stock’s price and trading activity that traders use to anticipate future moves. Think of it like recognizing weather patterns: if certain clouds or winds often precede a storm, seeing them again can suggest similar conditions ahead; likewise, repeating price behaviors can signal potential buying or selling opportunities. For investors it matters because these patterns can help with timing trades and gauging risk, though they are not guarantees.

etch technical

"atomic‑scale innovations for advanced patterning, etch and deposition processes"

Etch is a manufacturing process that removes material from a surface to create patterns, shapes or features—commonly done with chemicals, gases or light-based methods. Think of it like carefully carving a design into a metal plate: in chips, displays, or medical devices the process defines tiny structures that determine performance, yield and reliability. For investors, etching affects production cost, product quality and supply capacity, so improvements or problems in etch can change a maker’s competitiveness and margins.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

• EPIC will provide joint R&D programs to focus on co-development of materials engineering innovations that accelerate advanced node scaling, future memory architectures and extreme 3D integration
• Applied’s new, $5 billion EPIC Center is the largest-ever U.S. investment in advanced semiconductor equipment R&D designed to dramatically reduce the time from R&D to commercialization by several years

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Materials, Inc. today announced that Samsung Electronics will join the new, $5 billion EPIC Center in Silicon Valley. Applied’s EPIC Center will open this year as the world’s largest and most advanced facility for collaborative semiconductor process technology and manufacturing equipment R&D.

“The global buildout of AI infrastructure is driving unprecedented demand for energy-efficient chips,” said Gary Dickerson, President and CEO of Applied Materials. “To keep up with the tremendous pace of innovation in semiconductors, our industry must rethink and re-engineer how we collaborate to deliver the next generation of manufacturing technologies. Samsung will join Applied Materials at the EPIC Center, where our teams will work side-by-side to accelerate the path to bring advanced technologies to market faster than ever before.”

“Samsung and Applied Materials continue to build on our long-standing partnership to advance leading-edge semiconductor equipment technologies," said Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics. "We look forward to further deepening the technological collaboration between our two companies at the new EPIC center.”

“With the ever-increasing complexity of advanced semiconductors, parallel development of key steps throughout the entire process flow is critical to drive device performance, yield and cost, and that is exactly what the EPIC Center is designed to do,” said Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials. “We are honored to have Samsung Electronics as the first founding member, and we are excited to demonstrate the unique capabilities of the EPIC Center as a new innovation engine for the semiconductor ecosystem.”

The co-development programs at the EPIC Center will be designed to fast-track the development and deployment of next-generation semiconductor technologies through high-velocity co-innovation. The joint R&D programs will target new materials and process technologies for chips multiple nodes ahead of the current generation. The co-development programs will target new atomic‑scale innovations for advanced patterning, etch and deposition processes to enable a new generation of devices across advanced logic and memory chips.

Applied’s EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) Center in Silicon Valley represents the largest-ever U.S. investment in advanced semiconductor equipment R&D and is designed from the ground up to dramatically reduce the time it takes to commercialize breakthrough technologies from early-stage research to full-scale manufacturing. It does this by increasing speed, accuracy and efficiency through tighter collaboration and faster cycles of learning.

With more than 180,000 square feet of state‑of‑the‑art cleanroom space for collaborative R&D, the facility is on track to become operational in spring 2026. A traditional chip development cycle is a serial compartmentalized process that can take 10 to 15 years, but the EPIC model and infrastructure will drastically reduce that time, enabling parallel development, agile handoffs and early access to next-generation processes across the ecosystem. This accelerates product roadmaps, increases commercial success rates and amplifies the return on R&D investments.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those regarding Applied’s investment and growth strategies, the development of new materials and technologies, industry outlook and technology requirements, the plans and expectations for the EPIC Center, and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements and their underlying assumptions are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements include, without limitation: the demand for semiconductors and customers’ technology requirements; the ability to develop new and innovative technologies; the ability to obtain and protect intellectual property rights in key technologies; the ability to achieve the objectives of the EPIC center; and other risks and uncertainties described in Applied’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Applied’s most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All forward-looking statements are based on management’s current estimates, projections and assumptions, and Applied assumes no obligation to update them.

About Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) is the leader in materials engineering solutions that are at the foundation of virtually every new semiconductor and advanced display in the world. The technology we create is essential to advancing AI and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation chips. At Applied, we push the boundaries of science and engineering to deliver material innovation that changes the world. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.

Contact:
Ricky Gradwohl (editorial/media) 408.235.4676
Mike Sullivan (financial community) 408.986.7977

FAQ

What did Applied Materials (AMAT) announce about the $5 billion EPIC Center on February 11, 2026?

Applied Materials announced a $5 billion EPIC Center in Silicon Valley with Samsung as a founding member. According to the company, the center will house collaborative R&D to accelerate materials and process development for advanced logic and memory.

How will Samsung's participation at the EPIC Center affect AMAT's R&D collaboration?

Samsung will join as a founding partner to co-develop materials and process technologies with AMAT. According to the company, teams will work side-by-side on atomic-scale patterning, etch and deposition for future nodes.

When will the Applied Materials (AMAT) EPIC Center become operational and what is its size?

The EPIC Center is on track to be operational in spring 2026 and includes over 180,000 sq ft of cleanroom space. According to the company, the facility is built for high-velocity collaborative semiconductor R&D.

What technologies will AMAT and Samsung target at the EPIC Center (AMAT)?

The joint R&D will target atomic-scale innovations for advanced patterning, etch and deposition. According to the company, programs focus on materials and process technologies multiple nodes ahead of current generation chips.

How does the EPIC Center (AMAT) aim to change the chip development timeline?

The EPIC model aims to drastically shorten the traditional 10–15 year development cycle through parallel development and faster handoffs. According to the company, this should reduce time from R&D to commercialization by several years.

Why is the EPIC Center significant for investors in Applied Materials (AMAT)?

The center represents a large capex commitment to accelerate commercialization and industry partnerships, including Samsung. According to the company, the initiative could increase speed-to-market and amplify returns on R&D investments.