Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), the leading US manufacturer of chipmaking machinery, saw its share price surge in late trading following its optimistic revenue forecast for the current period. This indicates a potential uptick in investments by major semiconductor companies in new production technologies. Q2 sales set to reach about $6.5 billionCopy link to sectionThe company expects fiscal second-quarter sales to reach approximately$6.5 billion, exceeding the average analyst estimate of $6.32 billi ...