The Front Office

Scouting report · AMAT

Gary E. Dickerson

  • President & CEO; director, AMAT since 2013-09src

Applied Materials CEO since September 2013; ran Varian Semiconductor before

—thin record

Not ranked yet

Scouting sheet

as of 24 Sep 2026
Delivers guidance—no promises on the record yet
Answers the question—no call reviewed yet
Capital allocation—company not reviewed yet
Pay design87eps, margin, fcf, strategic, individual, roic, relative tsr, time only · 93% for · 0.42% of net income
Skin in the game—no holding or price on file
Age
68src
In the role
13 yr
Promises scored
0
Hit rate
—
Dodges / 100 answers
—
Airtime on calls
—
Every promise, oldest firstno scored promises yet

What to weigh

Watch 3

  • In February 2026 Applied settled a Commerce Department (BIS) export-control inquiry over China customer shipments for $253m. The settlement carries a denial order, suspended and waived after three years if required audits are completedsrc
  • Sold 161,321 shares on the open market in June 2026 for about $104.8m. None of the Form 4s checks the 10b5-1 boxsrc
  • CEO pay ratio of about 330:1 on $29.6m of fiscal 2025 pay. Say-on-pay got 93.0% of for-plus-against votes in March 2026src

In their favour 2

  • Held 1,398,872 shares at 2025-12-31 (under 1%) and met the 6x-salary ownership guideline. Hedging and pledging are prohibitedsrc
  • Three-quarters of his annual long-term award is PSUs paying on three-year economic profit and TSR relative to the S&P 500. The FY2023-25 PSUs paid above target, with no adjustment to goals or resultssrc

Career

  1. 2013 – now
    Applied Materialssrc
    President & CEO; director
    Effective 2013-09-01, succeeding Michael Splinter, who stayed as Executive Chairman through March 2015 per the same 8-K
  2. 2012 – 2013
    Applied Materialssrc
    President, reporting to CEO Michael Splinter
    Effective 2012-06-19
  3. 2011 – 2012
    Applied Materialssrc
    Employee reporting to the CEO on Varian merger integration
    From the November 2011 Varian acquisition to June 2012
  4. 2004 – 2011
    Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associatessrc
    CEO and director
    Until Applied acquired Varian in November 2011
  5. 1986 – 2004
    KLA-Tencorsrc
    Operations and product development roles, rising to President & COO
    The proxy says 18 years before he joined Varian in 2004; the 1986 start is that arithmetic, not a stated date

Undated in the sources

  • General Motors Delco Electronics Division; AT&T Technologiessrc, Manufacturing and engineering management

Not located: Dates of the pre-KLA-Tencor roles and of his President & COO years at KLA-Tencor are not given in any filing read

Achievements

  • CEO of Applied Materials since September 2013 after running Varian Semiconductor as CEO from 2004 to its 2011 sale to Appliedsrc
  • Fiscal 2025 was the sixth straight record year; the proxy puts revenue and EPS growth over that span at about 12% and 20% a yearsrc
  • Fiscal 2025 non-GAAP gross margin of 48.8% was the company's highest in 25 years, per the proxysrc
  • GAAP net income was $6.856bn (FY2023), $7.177bn (FY2024) and $6.998bn (FY2025)src
  • His December 2020 Value Creation Award hit its top TSR hurdle and vested at the 200% maximum (232,290 units) at the end of fiscal 2025src

Education

  • University of Missouri, Rolla, BS Engineering Managementsrc
  • University of Missouri, Kansas City, MBAsrc

Background

  • Family No family-relationship statement for him was found in the 2012 or 2013 appointment 8-Ks or the 2026 proxy; the 2026 proxy lists no related-person transaction involving himsrc
  • Boards No other public-company board now or in the last five years, per the 2026 proxy. He was formerly on the board of the U.S.-China Business Councilsrc
  • Other The compensation committee pays for a residential security system and travel security for him and his family, on a third-party risk assessmentsrc
  • Other Hired as CEO in 2013 with a 1,000,000-share option grant vesting over four years and a 175% target bonussrc

The promise ledger

No promise on the record yet: the research routine has not scored this company's guidance.

Sources

11
  1. Filing Applied Materials DEF 14A, 2026 annual meeting (0001193125-26-027307) · 2026-01-28
  2. Filing Applied Materials 10-K for fiscal 2025, executive officers and signatures (0001628280-25-056742) · 2025-12-12
  3. Filing Applied Materials 10-Q for the quarter ended 2026-07-26, BIS settlement note (0001628280-26-058235) · 2026-08-20
  4. Filing Applied Materials 8-K Item 5.07, 2026 annual meeting results (0001193125-26-106339) · 2026-03-13
  5. Filing Applied Materials 8-K Item 5.02, Dickerson appointed President & CEO (0000006951-13-000030) · 2013-08-16
  6. Filing Applied Materials 8-K Ex. 99.1 press release, Dickerson named CEO (0000006951-13-000030) · 2013-08-16
  7. Filing Applied Materials 8-K Item 5.02, Dickerson appointed President (0001193125-12-278656) · 2012-06-21
  8. Filing SEC XBRL companyconcept us-gaap/NetIncomeLoss, CIK 6951 (FY2025 10-K, 0001628280-25-056742) · 2025-12-12
  9. Filing Form 4, Gary E. Dickerson (reporting CIK 1183258), sales of 2026-06-15/16 and a gift (0001628280-26-044046) · 2026-06-17
  10. Filing Form 4, Gary E. Dickerson, sales of 2026-06-29/30 (0001628280-26-046609) · 2026-07-01
  11. Filing Form 4, Gary E. Dickerson, Value Creation Award vesting and tax withholding of 2025-10-26 (0001628280-25-046877) · 2025-10-28