Shares of Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares are trading lower by 2.23% to $169.01 Friday afternoon, as the semiconductor sector broadly declined following reports that the U.S. plans to end export waivers allowing chipmakers to ship American technology to China.

What To Know: The move, reported by The Wall Street Journal, is expected to tighten restrictions on companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which have relied on exemptions to use U.S. equipment in their Chinese operations.

Applied Materials, a leading supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, stands to be directly affected. The company provides the tools and materials essential for fabricating chips, including deposition, etching and inspection systems.

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AMAT's revenue is closely tied to global chip production, especially in China, the world’s largest semiconductor market. If key customers face new licensing barriers or halt equipment purchases due to regulatory uncertainty, AMAT's sales could suffer.

The policy shift reflects an ongoing U.S. effort to curb Chinese access to advanced chip technologies amid national security concerns. Industry leaders like Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas and Nvidia's Jensen Huang have criticized the approach, warning it could slow global innovation and disrupt supply chains.

Investors appear to be pricing in the risk of reduced demand from Chinese chipmakers, leading to Friday's selloff.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, AMAT has a 52-week high of $255.89 and a 52-week low of $123.74.

How To Buy AMAT Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Applied Materials’ – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.

In the case of Applied Materials’, which is trading at $169.89 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 0.59 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

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