Applied Materials, Inc. vs Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF — how do they compare? Applied Materials, Inc. trades at $571 (market cap $478.36B), while Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF trades at $115.63. The key difference: Applied Materials, Inc. pays a 0.35% dividend while Vanguard Information Technology Index Fund ETF pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| AMAT | VGT | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $478.36B | — |
Sector | Technology | — |
52-Week High | $723.00 | $125.77 |
52-Week Low | $156.25 | $83.59 |
Enterprise Value | $477.39B | — |
Dividend Yield | 0.35% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Applied Materials (AMAT) trades at $602.50, up 2.35% recently, with strong technical support near $573 and resistance at $617. The company demonstrates robust fundamentals, including a 29.31% net income margin and consistent earnings beats, while benefiting from AI-driven semiconductor demand highlighted in recent CEO commentary (CNBC, 2026-05-28).
Outlook remains positive given analyst consensus of $644.33 price target and 76.9% buy ratings, though elevated P/E of 56.68 poses valuation risk. Key opportunities include AI infrastructure growth, while risks involve cyclical semiconductor demand and execution challenges in scaling operations.
VGT trades at $118.08, up 0.31% with a bullish technical signal from moving averages. The ETF shows strong institutional backing and positive media coverage highlighting its tech sector exposure and low 0.09% expense ratio. Recent news emphasizes VGT's outperformance versus QQQ and its role in AI-driven tech investments.
Outlook remains positive given tech sector momentum and AI growth catalysts, though risks include sector volatility and valuation concerns. Analyst sentiment favors VGT for broad tech diversification with competitive fees supporting long-term growth potential amid market fluctuations.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Applied Materials is the world's largest supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, providing materials engineering solutions to help make nearly every chip in the world. The firm's systems are used in nearly every major process step with the exception of lithography. Key tools include those for chemical and physical vapor deposition, etching, chemical mechanical polishing, wafer- and reticle-inspection, critical dimension measurement, and defect-inspection scanning electron microscopes.
Read more on AMAT →The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Index/Information Technology 25/50, an index made up of stocks of large, mid-size, and small US companies within the information technology sector, as classified under the GICS. The advisor attempts to replicate the target index by seeking to invest all of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, in order to hold each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. It is non-diversified.
Read more on VGT →