Applied Materials management check
AMAT · Information Technology · Semiconductor Materials & Equipment · CEO Gary E Dickerson
Filings as of
5 good · 2 to watch · 0 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $392, against $314 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.47 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.4% of net income$29.6m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $7.0bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 40 years of payThe CEO holds 1,627,832 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 40 years of pay. 8 insiders sold $174.1m in the last six months and none bought.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -2.2% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 2.4% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
5 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Mr. Dickerson. 5 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Information Technology.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 81 | 33 | |
| Pay for performance | 73 | 87 | |
| CEO cost | 81 | 35 | |
| Skin in the game | 80 | 47 | |
| Dilution | 78 | 56 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 85 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Semiconductor Materials & Equipment, by management score. Applied Materials is 6th of 73 in its sector.
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed January 28, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Dickerson | $29.6m | $87.0m | $7.6m | $392 | $314 | $7.0bn |
| 2024 | — | $27.8m | $86.1m | $7.0m | $316 | $232 | $7.2bn |
| 2023 | — | $26.9m | $71.9m | $6.5m | $221 | $142 | $6.9bn |
| 2022 | — | $20.4m | −$22.1m | $6.0m | $150 | $106 | $6.5bn |
| 2021 | — | $35.3m | $144.9m | $6.7m | $226 | $148 | $5.9bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Economic Profit. Its other key measures: Non-GAAP Economic Profit, Non-GAAP EPS, Non-GAAP Operating Margin, Non-GAAP Gross Margin, Relative TSR.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Gary E Dickerson (President and CEO) held 1,627,832 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jun 30, 2026, roughly $1.2bn at that filing's price.
8 insiders sold $174.1m in the last six months and none bought.
- SoldGary E DickersonPresident and CEO$104.8mJun 30, 2026
- SoldPrabu G. RajaPresident, Semi. Products Grp.$31.6mJun 18, 2026
- SoldOmkaram NalamasuSenior Vice President, CTO$20.8mJun 16, 2026
- SoldThomas J IannottiDirector$5.5mJun 16, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Aug 27, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 15, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 22, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 29, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 13, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 24, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 29, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 6, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 25, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 7, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Mar 13, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $26.0bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 78% of net income, and $2.5bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $23.1bn | $25.8bn | $26.5bn | $27.2bn | $28.4bn |
| Net income | $5.9bn | $6.5bn | $6.9bn | $7.2bn | $7.0bn |
| Stock-based pay | $346.0m | $413.0m | $490.0m | $577.0m | $668.0m |
| Buybacks | $3.8bn | $6.1bn | $2.2bn | $3.8bn | $4.9bn |
| Dividends | $838.0m | $873.0m | $975.0m | $1.2bn | $1.4bn |
| Diluted shares | 919m | 877m | 845m | 834m | 808m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.