Applied Materials warns of sales hit from latest curbs on China

The long-awaited rule seeks to prevent sanctioned companies from using affiliates to access restricted US goods

Applied Materials, the largest US maker of machinery used to manufacture semiconductors, said that an expansion of rules that restrict the export of its products to China will take another chunk out of its revenue.

The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a new rule this week that widens the range of companies subject to export restrictions, Applied Materials said in a regulatory filing on Thursday (Oct 2). The company expects that to cost it US$600 million in lost revenue in fiscal 2026, which runs to next October.

Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based company fell as much as 5.6 per cent in extended trading following the announcement. They had earlier closed up 2.7 per cent at US$223.59.

Applied Materials and its peers have faced increasingly strict rules governing their ability to supply and support customers in China. It’s part of a push in Washington to limit the Asian nation’s ability to develop a domestic chip supply. Successive administrations have cited national security concerns for the moves and tried to get other governments to place similar curbs on Applied Materials’ overseas competitors.

The long-awaited rule, published Sep 29 by the Commerce Department, seeks to prevent sanctioned companies from using affiliates to access restricted US goods. Subsidiaries that are at least 50 per cent owned by blacklisted companies will now face the same curbs as their sanctioned parents, according to the measure. BLOOMBERG