Top 10 semiconductor equipment stocks to watch in 2026

Semiconductor equipment companies build the machines, materials and systems that chip manufacturers rely on to produce integrated circuits. The ten names on this list sit at different points in that production process – ASML Holding N.V. ($ASML) concentrates on lithography systems, Lam Research ($LRCX) on etch and deposition equipment, and Amkor Technology ($AMKR) on packaging and test services once wafers leave the fabrication line.

How we built this list: We selected these companies based on their industry and ordered them by market capitalisation. Prices are updated daily, and the list and supporting content are reviewed roughly every quarter. All data is sourced from Stake. This list isn't a recommendation and isn't ordered by suitability.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Source: Stake market data. Figures in US$. Data updated as of 1 September 2026.

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1. ASML Holding N.V. ($ASML)

ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) share price over the last year: started at US$725.85, ended at US$1,665.14, a change of +129.4%. Range over the period: high US$1,989.44, low US$725.85. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$1,665.14 · Daily: -1.8% · Market cap: US$645.85B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

ASML Holding N.V. ($ASML) makes the machines that make chips possible. Its core product line, the TWINSCAN system, uses precisely controlled light sources – mercury lamps, krypton fluoride and argon fluoride lasers – to print circuit patterns onto silicon wafers at increasingly fine resolutions. That process, called lithography, sits at the heart of semiconductor manufacturing. $ASML also produces metrology and inspection systems, which check whether those patterns have been etched correctly.

The company employs 43,520 people and operates across a wide footprint – from its Netherlands headquarters through subsidiaries in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China and across Europe and North America. Under chief executive Christophe Fouquet, $ASML runs as a single business segment, covering everything from R&D and production through to sales, upgrades and ongoing servicing of its equipment.

2. Lam Research ($LRCX)

Lam Research (LRCX) share price over the last year: started at US$97.03, ended at US$290.20, a change of +199.1%. Range over the period: high US$433.33, low US$97.03. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$290.20 · Daily: -3.7% · Market cap: US$377.26B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Lam Research ($LRCX) makes the equipment that etches circuit patterns into silicon wafers and deposits material layer by layer. Those are the fabrication steps where a chip's physical structure actually forms. Its customers include semiconductor memory makers, foundries and integrated device manufacturers – companies building non-volatile memory, DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) and logic devices.

The chips that come out of those fabs end up in smartphones, cloud servers, vehicles and data storage hardware. Beyond hardware sales, $LRCX refurbishes equipment and runs services covering nanoscale manufacturing, chemistry, plasma and fluidics. CEO Tim Archer leads a workforce of 23,300 across the business.

3. Applied Materials ($AMAT)

Applied Materials (AMAT) share price over the last year: started at US$157.57, ended at US$441.85, a change of +180.4%. Range over the period: high US$723.00, low US$156.25. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$441.85 · Daily: -3.6% · Market cap: US$363.78B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Applied Materials ($AMAT) sits at a critical point in the chip-making process: the company builds the machines that physically shape and deposit materials onto silicon wafers. Its Semiconductor Systems segment covers a range of processes – etch, deposition, ion implantation, metrology and inspection, among others – that chip manufacturers rely on to move from raw wafer to finished circuitry.

The second segment, Applied Global Services (AGS), keeps those machines running. It provides spares, services and factory automation software to help fabs maintain throughput once the equipment is installed. Under CEO Gary Dickerson, $AMAT employs around 36,500 people, and its technology ultimately feeds into everything from mobile phones and AI servers to automobiles and consumer electronics.

4. KLA Corp ($KLAC)

KLA Corp (KLAC) share price over the last year: started at US$84.64, ended at US$170.89, a change of +101.9%. Range over the period: high US$301.71, low US$84.39. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$170.89 · Daily: -2.6% · Market cap: US$229.23B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

KLA Corp ($KLAC) sits at the quality-control end of chip manufacturing. Its tools inspect, measure and analyse wafers, reticles and finished circuits as they move through fabrication – catching defects before they compound into yield losses.

The Semiconductor Process Control segment covers inspection, metrology and data analytics products. The Specialty Semiconductor Process segment handles vacuum deposition and etching tools. A third segment takes that inspection logic beyond chip fab and into printed circuit boards, flat panel displays and component testing.

Under chief executive Rick Wallace, $KLAC employs around 17,000 people. The company's core argument is that finding problems earlier in production costs far less than discovering them later – so its equipment sits throughout the fabrication process rather than at the end of it.

5. Teradyne ($TER)

Teradyne (TER) share price over the last year: started at US$120.61, ended at US$335.50, a change of +178.2%. Range over the period: high US$483.84, low US$112.24. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$335.50 · Daily: -4.1% · Market cap: US$54.69B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Teradyne ($TER) builds the machines that check whether chips, circuits and wireless systems actually work. Its Semiconductor Test segment produces testing equipment for semiconductors, including storage and system-level test products – the kind of step that sits between fabrication and a finished device reaching the market. Beyond silicon, $TER also makes collaborative robotic arms and autonomous mobile robots through its Robotics segment.

The Product Test segment broadens that out further, covering defence and aerospace instrumentation, circuit-board inspection systems and silicon photonics testing. Gregory Smith leads a workforce of 6,600 people across those three businesses.

6. ASM International NV ($ASMIY)

ASM International NV (ASMIY) share price over the last year: started at US$472.70, ended at US$905.90, a change of +91.6%. Range over the period: high US$1,243.50, low US$469.66. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$905.90 · Daily: -3.4% · Market cap: US$44.94B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

ASM International NV ($ASMIY) makes the equipment that chip manufacturers rely on to build the microscopic layers inside a semiconductor. Its front-end segment produces machines for wafer processing – the stage where silicon wafers are built up with layers of semiconductor material – with operations running across Europe, the U.S., Japan and South East Asia. The back-end segment then covers the other end of the process: equipment used to separate finished wafers into individual circuits and package them.

A particular focus for $ASMIY is thin film deposition – the precise layering of materials onto wafers – which it supplies primarily to manufacturers of analog semiconductors. Under CEO Hichem M'Saad, the company employs 4,519 people across its global operations.

7. Entegris ($ENTG)

Entegris (ENTG) share price over the last year: started at US$81.94, ended at US$129.51, a change of +58.1%. Range over the period: high US$184.00, low US$68.80. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$129.51 · Daily: -4.3% · Market cap: US$20.67B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Entegris ($ENTG) sits upstream of the chip-making process itself, supplying the materials and purity systems that fabrication plants depend on to produce working devices. Its Materials Solutions segment covers things like deposition materials, etch and clean chemicals, and chemical mechanical planarisation slurries – the compounds that shape and smooth wafers at each stage of production. The Advanced Purity Solutions segment focuses on keeping those same processes contaminant-free, filtering the liquid chemistries and gases that flow through a fab and cleaning the wafers and substrates before they move to the next step.

David Reeder leads the company, which employs around 7,700 people across manufacturing, research and customer service sites in the U.S., Canada, China, Germany and elsewhere.

8. Onto Innovation ($ONTO)

Onto Innovation (ONTO) share price over the last year: started at US$103.90, ended at US$256.37, a change of +146.7%. Range over the period: high US$378.45, low US$101.95. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$256.37 · Daily: -4.1% · Market cap: US$13.11B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Every chip that leaves a fabrication line has been measured and inspected many times – and Onto Innovation ($ONTO) builds the tools that do that work. The product range covers two core functions: measuring film layers and surface characteristics, and scanning wafers for defects that could affect yield. Customers include silicon wafer producers, integrated circuit fabricators and advanced packaging manufacturers. $ONTO's tools also support process control in markets like LEDs, micro-electromechanical systems and RF filters.

9. Amkor Technology ($AMKR)

Amkor Technology (AMKR) share price over the last year: started at US$23.90, ended at US$45.73, a change of +91.3%. Range over the period: high US$93.55, low US$23.80. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$45.73 · Daily: -3.3% · Market cap: US$11.75B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Packaging and testing is the entire business at Amkor Technology ($AMKR). The company handles everything from wafer bumping and back-grinding through to package design, final testing and drop shipment. $AMKR tailors its packaging to chip-specific requirements – interconnect type, physical size, and thermal and electrical performance all vary by application.

Customers include integrated device manufacturers (IDMs – companies that both design and fabricate their own chips), fabless semiconductor firms, original equipment manufacturers and contract foundries. The outsourcing model lets those companies hand off this stage of production and direct their own investments elsewhere. $AMKR has also developed advanced packaging capabilities aimed at artificial intelligence applications, and employs around 30,800 people under CEO Kevin Engel.

10. Camtek ($CAMT)

Camtek (CAMT) share price over the last year: started at US$78.46, ended at US$128.14, a change of +63.3%. Range over the period: high US$207.46, low US$76.73. Source: Stake market data. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Price: US$128.14 · Daily: -4.4% · Market cap: US$6.25B · Sector: Technology · Industry: Semiconductors

Israel-based Camtek Ltd ($CAMT) makes metrology and inspection equipment for chipmakers. Its systems work at the mid-end of semiconductor production – the stage where wafers are measured and checked before they reach packaging lines. The company covers several chip categories, including advanced packaging, memory, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, micro electro mechanical sensors (MEMS) and radio frequency (RF) devices.

$CAMT also develops software solutions shaped to individual customer requirements. The company runs subsidiaries across the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, with more than seven offices globally. CEO Rafi Amit leads a team of 709 employees.

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Common questions

How do I invest in semiconductor equipment stocks in Australia?

All ten companies in this list trade on U.S. exchanges, so you'd buy them through a share trading platform that provides access to U.S. markets. Shares are priced in USD, meaning movements in the AUD/USD rate affect the value of any position in Australian dollar terms. Some U.S.-listed ETFs also hold semiconductor equipment names, though the specific weighting and coverage vary by fund.

What are the key risks of semiconductor equipment stocks?

Semiconductor equipment spending tracks chipmakers' capital expenditure closely, and those budgets move in cycles – when manufacturers pull back on new capacity, equipment orders can fall sharply. Several companies here operate in markets subject to export controls on advanced chip technology, which can restrict where they're permitted to sell. The industry also sells to a relatively small group of major chipmakers, so a shift in a key customer relationship can move revenue significantly. AUD/USD movements add a further layer, since all ten stocks are priced in USD.

How do the companies in this list differ from each other?

The most meaningful dividing line is between equipment makers, materials suppliers and services companies. Most names here build the physical machines used to manufacture chips – covering processes like lithography, etching, deposition, metrology and inspection. Entegris sits outside that group, supplying the specialised chemicals and filtration materials those machines consume rather than the machines themselves. Amkor Technology is different again, providing outsourced packaging and test services once wafers have already been fabricated.

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Disclaimer

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. When you invest, your capital is at risk. You should consider your own investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs before making an investment decision. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may receive back less than your original investment. As always, do your own research and consider seeking appropriate financial advice before investing.

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