Why did Applied Materials shares rise 5% today? Jefferies sees rising chip-equipment spending.
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Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares climbed more than 5%, Friday, as Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis reiterated his buy rating on the company's stock as one of his top picks in the semiconductor equipment sector.
Lipacis gave his take on Applied Materials (AMAT) as part of an assessment chip foundry giant Taiwan Semiconductor's (NYSE:TSM) capital spending plans. Taiwan Semi (TSM) is said to be spending between $40 billion and $44 billion on equipment used to make semiconductors at this factories this year.

Lipacis said called Applied Materials (AMAT) and KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) his top picks for the chip foundry and logic processor industries.
Earlier this week, analysts at Barclays raised their price target on Applied Materials (AMAT) shares to $165 from $160.
For its part, Taiwan Semi (TSM) edged up by 1% after rising more than 5% on Thursday following its upbeat quarterly results and spending forecast.