AMAT vs TELWY: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated October 2026
Short answer
AMAT (Applied Materials) and TELWY (Tokyo Electron Limited) share investment themes but are different businesses. The right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme.
AMAT vs TELWY: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of October 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | AMAT | TELWY | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trailing P/E | 35.31 | 36.42 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 1.59 | 1.33 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 38% of range | 43% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 12.68 | 10.75 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Before you buy: how AMAT and TELWY affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AMAT and TELWY share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AMAT and TELWY exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does Applied Materials (AMAT) do?
Applied Materials is the largest semiconductor equipment company in the world by revenue. The company manufactures the wafer fabrication equipment that semiconductor fabs use to deposit, etch, polish, and inspect silicon wafers. AMAT does not make lithography systems (ASML has that monopoly) but is essentially everywhere else in the fab equipment market.
What does Tokyo Electron Limited (TELWY) do?
Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), founded in 1963 and based in Tokyo, designs and builds the machines chipmakers use to manufacture semiconductors. Its signature franchise is coater/developers, the track systems that coat wafers with photoresist and develop the pattern after a lithography scanner exposes it, where it holds the large majority of the global market, including nearly all tracks paired with ASML's EUV scanners. TEL also sells etch, deposition, cleaning, wafer bonding and wafer prober (test) systems, plus a field-solutions business that services and upgrades a large installed base. Revenue comes mostly from one-time equipment sales to the largest logic, foundry and memory makers (TSMC, Samsung, SK hynix, Intel, Micron) and to Chinese chipmakers, with services and parts adding steadier, recurring income.
AMAT vs TELWY: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- AMAT drivers: Leading-edge logic and memory capex; Trailing-edge capacity expansion.
- TELWY drivers: AI-driven chip capital spending; Coater/developer dominance and etch share gains.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Semiconductor capex is cyclical. For TELWY, semiconductor equipment is one of the most cyclical corners of the market.
AMAT or TELWY: which should you pick?
AMAT vs TELWY: the full fundamentals
AMAT. As of October 16, 2026, AMAT trades at about 36x trailing and 23x forward earnings, with a price-to-sales ratio near 10.8x, a rerating from the low-20s trailing multiple of early 2026 even after the stock's pullback from its high. The latest quarter beat on EPS ($3.50 vs ~$3.39) with revenue up about 25%, and consensus for fiscal Q4 (reported November 12, 2026) is EPS of ~$4.06 on ~$10.3 billion of revenue. The 36 analysts covering the stock have an average target near $632.
TELWY. Tokyo Electron reports in yen on a fiscal year ending in March, so dollar figures here are approximate conversions at roughly ¥158 per dollar. Trailing twelve-month net income was about ¥621 billion as of the June 2026 quarter. Second-quarter results, together with second-half guidance, are scheduled for October 30, 2026, and analysts expect quarterly sales of about ¥899 billion, up roughly 43% from a year earlier. ADR price comparisons before and after October 1, 2026 need to account for the 1-for-5 stock split, and some data feeds understate the ADR's market value by applying the ADR price to the share count.
Headline figures (approximate, October 2026): AMAT shows revenue (ttm) ~$30.8 billion, revenue growth (latest quarter, yoy) ~25%, operating margin ~34%, net income (ttm) ~$9.3 billion; TELWY shows revenue (fy ended mar 2026) ~¥2,443.5B, up ~0.5%, q1 fy2027 revenue (apr to jun 2026) ~¥732B, up ~33% YoY, q1 fy2027 operating income ~¥211B (~28.9% margin), h1 fy2027 guidance (apr to sep 2026) ~¥1.62T sales, ~¥458B operating income.
The bottom line: AMAT vs TELWY
AMAT and TELWY are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AMAT and TELWY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how AMAT or TELWY fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in Applied Materials with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how AMAT fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between AMAT and TELWY?
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Applied Materials is the largest semiconductor equipment company in the world by revenue. Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), founded in 1963 and based in Tokyo, designs and builds the machines chipmakers use to manufacture semiconductors. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is AMAT or TELWY the better stock?
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Neither is universally better; they suit different views and risk levels. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, AMAT or TELWY?
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A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both AMAT and TELWY?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of AMAT vs TELWY?
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AMAT: Semiconductor capex is cyclical. China exposure (where export controls have already cut some revenue) is the largest single near-term risk; further restrictions could expand. Valuation and expectations are now a risk of their own: the stock more than doubled from its 52-week low of ~$203 to ~$740 before falling about 26% over three months to $418 by October 16, 2026, and two brokers cut price targets the week the company presented its 2030 plan. Consensus already assumes fiscal Q4 EPS of ~$4.06 (up about 87% year over year) and 44% EPS growth in fiscal 2027, so a softer outlook on November 12 would land against high expectations. Free cash flow of ~$3.1 billion trailing is well below net income, a gap worth watching as the company spends on capacity and R&D. TELWY: Semiconductor equipment is one of the most cyclical corners of the market. Orders fell sharply in 2019 and 2023 when chipmakers paused spending, and a strong cycle can turn quickly if AI capex slows or memory prices drop. China has accounted for roughly a third or more of TEL's sales in recent years, so tighter US, Japanese or Dutch export controls could cut demand, and earlier reports of new restrictions have triggered single-day drops of more than 7%. Legal and reputational risk is live too: Taiwan prosecutors charged a TEL subsidiary in a TSMC trade-secrets case in December 2025, the unit said in May 2026 it would not appeal the ruling, and in April 2026 TEL cut ties with an executive reported to be linked to Chinese rivals. At roughly 40 times trailing earnings, the stock leaves little room for a guidance miss, and the switch to six-month guidance limits visibility. For US holders, the ADR adds yen-to-dollar currency swings and thinner OTC liquidity on top of the business risks, and the ADR fell about 5% on October 16, 2026 alone.
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Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell AMAT or TELWY; figures are approximate and dated (as of October 2026). Verify current data before investing.