COMPARE · Data as of October 9, 2026

AMAT vs TSM

Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. AMAT scored 37.9, TSM scored 72.6 — TSM leads.
Compare another set
AMAT
Applied Materials, Inc.
Semiconductor Equipment & Materials · Quality-Growth
37.9
$507.03 · $402.4B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
34.7
TSM leads
TSM
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
Semiconductors · Quality-Growth
72.6
$453.31 · $2.4T
fundamentals as of
  • CheapestTSM33.3x
  • Fastest growthTSM+31.6%
  • Strongest balance sheetTSM0.17
  • Highest qualityTSM89 / 100
THE BULL RANKINGS SCORECARD37.9/ 100 · BULL SCOREPEER MEDIANQUALITY85.3GROWTH65.9VALUE9.7
THE BULL RANKINGS SCORECARD72.6/ 100 · BULL SCOREPEER MEDIANQUALITY89.3GROWTH93.6VALUE62.9
AMATTSMQuality85.389.3Growth65.993.6Value9.762.9
cheap & fastrevenue growth →← cheaper (lower multiple)-6%42%28x49xAMATTSM

Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.

FCFAMAT$5.6bTSM$35.2b
RevAMAT+4.4%TSM+31.6%
D/EAMAT0.29TSM0.17
P/EAMAT43.7xTSM33.3x
PEGAMAT1.01TSM0.87
AMAT
stronger →← stronger
TSM
85
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
89
66
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
94
10
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
63
TSM is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
AMAT
TSM
$5.6bB+
FCF
$35.2bA
+4.4%C+
Rev
+31.6%A
0.29B
D/E
0.17B+
43.7xC+
P/E
33.3xB
1.01B+
PEG
0.87B+
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
AMAT
TSM
511% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
243% above
~59%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~49%/yr
-85%
1-yr DCF upside
-77%
-84%
5-yr DCF upside
-71%
-82%
10-yr DCF upside
-58%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
AMAT
Why this score
  • Raising its dividend
  • Durable high returns
TSM
Why this score
  • Raising its dividend
  • Durable high returns
  • Foreign reporter (TWD)
AMATApplied Materials, Inc.
Semiconductor Equipment & Materials · $507.03 · beta 1.59
Why now
Semiconductor Equipment & Materials · market cap $402.4b. Down 31% from 52-week high of $739.67 — deep drawdown territory. 36 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $638.94 (implying +26% upside).
Moat
Net margin 30% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 41% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $402.4b market cap places it among the largest companies in the sector — distribution, R&D, and customer-acquisition costs amortize across a base peers can't replicate.
Risk
Down 31% from the 52-week high — the market is pricing in something the screen can't see; verify the bear case before sizing up. Beta 1.59 implies above-market volatility — position-size to the drawdowns this name will produce in a market correction, not to its bull-case return. Trailing P/E 44x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates.
TSMTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
Semiconductors · $453.31 · beta 1.24
Why now
Semiconductors · market cap $2.4T. 7% off the 52-week high of $487.47. Revenue growing +32% — in hypergrowth territory. PEG 0.87 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 20 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $555.01 (implying +22% upside).
Moat
Net margin 50% is exceptional — pricing-power territory rare outside premium software, branded staples, and specialty pharma. ROE 40% — top-decile capital efficiency. Either pricing leverage, low capital intensity, or aggressive buybacks; the durability story depends on which. $2.4T market cap places it among the largest companies in the sector — distribution, R&D, and customer-acquisition costs amortize across a base peers can't replicate.
Risk
Trailing P/E 33x sits well above the S&P median (~20x) — multiple compression is a real risk if revenue growth decelerates. P/S 16.9x embeds aggressive forward growth — disappointing top-line guidance would compress the multiple hard. Semiconductor cyclicality — inventory corrections compress margins faster than analysts model. Monitor channel inventory and book-to-bill ratios as leading indicators.
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.

Where AMAT and TSM diverge

On the headline score the gap is 34.7 points in favor of TSM. The widest single difference is Value, where TSM leads by 53.2 points.

Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.

Common questions

Is TSM or AMAT the better stock?

TSM scores higher: TSM 72.6, AMAT 37.9 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.

Where do TSM and AMAT differ most?

The widest gap is value, where TSM leads by 53 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. TSM leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.

How are TSM and AMAT scored?

Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.

How current is this comparison?

The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.