Dutch chip firm Besi shares jump as Applied Materials doubles stake

Shares in Dutch chip equipment maker BE Semiconductor Industries, known as Besi, rose sharply on Tuesday after United States rival Applied Materials announced plans to increase its stake in the firm to roughly 20 percent. Euronews and Reuters both reported that Applied Materials revealed its decision late on Monday. Applied Materials had previously held a 9 percent stake in the company since April 2025. [1][2]

Euronews reported that Besi stock climbed more than 10 percent to over 160 euros per share by early afternoon on Tuesday. Finimize and Dealroom also covered the move, with Dealroom reporting that the stock jumped 8.8 percent. Euronews noted that the boosted stake tightens ties between the two companies around technology used to manufacture artificial intelligence hardware. [1][3][4][5][6]

Applied Materials is based in Santa Clara, California, and supplies equipment, services, and software for manufacturing semiconductor chips and flat panel displays. It is the second largest supplier of semiconductor equipment in the world based on revenue behind Dutch company ASML. Besi is a Dutch multinational company that designs and manufactures semiconductor equipment, offering die attach, packaging, and plating solutions. [7][9]

Applied Materials is the largest United States based semiconductor equipment provider, generating record revenue of 27.2 billion dollars in fiscal 2024. Its Semiconductor Systems segment supplies wafer fabrication tools used for chip production across the global electronics industry. [10]