Applied Materials, the largest chip equipment manufacturer in the US, gave an optimistic forecast for this quarter's results, indicating that the industry's downward trend may ease. Applied Materials said in a statement that sales for the fourth fiscal quarter are expected to be around 6.51 billion US dollars, which is higher than the average estimate of 5.88 billion US dollars by analysts. The adjusted earnings per share would be between $1.82 and $2.18, higher than the previous forecast of $1.61. Gary Dickerson, CEO of Applied Materials, said that the company's transformation to artificial intelligence computing and the rise of the Internet device business helped boost performance, and it is expected to maintain this good state throughout 2023. Analysts predict Applied Materials will resume growth in the second half of next year. After the announcement of Applied Materials' results, the stock once rose more than 3% after the market. The stock closed down 0.48% during the regular trading session on Thursday at $137.59.