News Release

• Recognized by the Ethisphere Institute for six consecutive years for leading with integrity and ethical business practices

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 13, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Materials, Inc. announced today that it has been recognized as a 2017 World's Most Ethical Company© by the Ethisphere Institute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

"Applied Materials takes pride in building a strong culture of ethics and empowering our employees to make good business decisions every day," said Steve Adams, vice president, Litigation, Protection and Compliance at Applied Materials. "I want to thank all of our employees around the world for upholding our reputation as a trusted business and community partner."

This is the sixth consecutive year Applied Materials has been recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company. In addition, Applied is one of only six companies on the list in the Electronics & Semiconductors category, underscoring its commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices.

"Congratulations to Applied Materials on this well-deserved recognition," said Ethisphere's chief executive officer, Timothy Erblich. "Applied's commitment to doing business responsibly, consistently investing in local communities around the world and embracing strategies of diversity and inclusion exemplifies what it means to be a responsible corporate citizen."

This is the eleventh year that Ethisphere has honored those companies who recognize their role in society to influence and drive positive change, consider the impact of their actions on their employees, investors, customers and other key stakeholders and use their values and culture as an underpinning to the decisions they make every day.

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient^® (EQ) framework which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35%), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20%), culture of ethics (20%), governance (15%) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10%).

The full list of the 2017 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/.

For additional information on Applied Materials' ethical business conduct, visit www.appliedmaterials.com/about/cr. 

About Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Our expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels and on an industrial scale enables customers to transform possibilities into reality. At Applied Materials, our innovations make possible the technology shaping the future. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com.

About the Ethisphere Institute
The Ethisphere^® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication of Ethisphere Magazine. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.

"World's Most Ethical Companies" and "Ethisphere" names and marks are registered trademarks of Ethisphere LLC.

Applied Materials Contacts: 
Kevin Winston (editorial/media) 408.235.4498 
Michael Sullivan (financial community) 408.986.7977

Ethisphere Contact:
Clea Nabozny 480.397.2658

Applied Materials, Inc.