Reconciliation of non-GAAP adjusted financial measures used in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section and elsewhere in this Proxy Statement, other than as part of disclosure of target levels, can be found in Appendix A.

Applied’s Board of Directors is elected each year at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Applied currently has ten directors. Upon the recommendation of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, the Board has nominated the ten individuals listed below for election at the Annual Meeting, each of whom currently serves as a director of Applied. These nominees bring a wide variety of relevant skills, professional experience, and backgrounds, as well as diverse viewpoints and perspectives to represent the long-term interests of shareholders and to fulfill the leadership and oversight responsibilities of the Board.

If any nominee listed below becomes unable to stand for election at the Annual Meeting, the persons named as

proxies may vote for any person designated by the Board to replace the nominee. Alternatively, the proxies may vote for the remaining nominees and leave a vacancy that the Board may fill later, or the Board may reduce the authorized number of directors. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, the Board is not aware of any nominee who is unable or will decline to serve as a director.

Each director elected at the Annual Meeting will serve until Applied’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until they are succeeded by another qualified director who has been elected, or, if earlier, until their death, resignation, or removal.

James C. Morgan became Chairman Emeritus in March 2009, following his retirement as our director and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Morgan spent more than 31 years as a director and employee of Applied, including over 20 years as Chairman of the Board.

Mr. Morgan first joined Applied in 1976 and served as Chief Executive Officer from 1977 to 2003. As Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Morgan does not attend any Board or Committee meetings, has no voting rights and receives no retainer or meeting fees.

Nominee Skills and Experience

The Board values having directors who possess a wide variety of relevant skills, professional experience and backgrounds, bring diverse viewpoints and perspectives, and effectively represent the long-term interests of shareholders.

Listed below are certain of the key skills and experience that the Board considers important for our directors to have in light of our current business in order to contribute to the effective leadership and exercise of oversight responsibilities by the Board.

Diversity. Our Board values having a Board that reflects diverse perspectives, including those based on gender, ethnicity, skills, experience at policy-making levels in areas that are relevant to the Company’s global activities, and functional, geographic, or cultural backgrounds. Our Board has adopted a Policy on Board Diversity within our Corporate Governance Guidelines, which reflects the Board’s commitment to actively seek out women and ethnically diverse director candidates and to consider the factors above, among others, in the context of the current composition of the Board and needs of the Company when identifying and evaluating director candidates.

The ten director nominees for election at our 2022 Annual Meeting bring to our Board a variety of different backgrounds,

skills, professional and industry experience, and other attributes and perspectives that contribute to the overall diversity of our Board.

Independence. The Board’s Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee expects each non-employee director to be free of relationships, interests or affiliations that could give rise to conflicts of interest or interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment. Applied’s Corporate Governance Guidelines require that a majority of our directors must be independent, and that our Audit, Human Resources and Compensation, and Governance Committees must consist solely of independent directors. Director independence is determined under Nasdaq listing standards and SEC rules. The Board has affirmatively determined that,

other than Mr. Dickerson, our Chief Executive Officer, all members of the Board who served during 2021 and all director nominees are independent under applicable Nasdaq listing standards and SEC rules.

Tenure. The Board believes that new ideas and perspectives are critical to a forward-looking and strategic Board, as are the valuable experiences and deep understanding of Applied’s business and industries that longer-serving directors offer. Our Governance Guidelines do not impose a term limit on Board service, but our directors are not typically nominated for re-election after they reach the age of 70. Feedback from the annual Board evaluations and individual discussions between each non-employee director and our Chair are an important determinant of Board tenure. As a result of our ongoing Board refreshment efforts, we have added two new directors to the Board over the last three years, which has resulted in a balanced range of tenures, ensuring both continuity and fresh perspectives among our director nominees. Our nominees have an average tenure of slightly less than eight years, which matches the average tenure for independent directors of other S&P 500 companies.

Key Attributes of the Board

Independence 9 of 10 directors are independent Diversity 50% of the Board is ethnically and/or gender diverse 40% are female 30% are ethnically diverse1 Tenure 2 directors added to the Board over last 3 years Regular refreshment resulting in average director tenure of less than 8 years > 10 years 4-10 years < 4 years 3 directors 4 directors 3 directors 1 - Ethnically diverse means a director who self-identifies as one or more of the following (defined by Nasdaq as an Underrepresented Minority): Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Asian, Native American or Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

Board Composition and Refreshment

Identification of New Director Candidates. Identifying and recommending individuals for nomination and election to our Board is a principal responsibility of our Governance Committee, which performs this function through an ongoing, year-round process.

The Governance Committee regularly considers the size and composition of the Board and assesses whether the

composition appropriately aligns with the Company’s evolving business and strategic needs. The focus is on ensuring that the Board is composed of directors who possess a wide variety of relevant skills, professional experience and backgrounds, bring diverse viewpoints and perspectives, and effectively represent the long-term interests of shareholders. In accordance with the Policy on Board Diversity, including our commitment to having a Board that reflects diverse perspectives, the Governance Committee actively seeks out women and ethnically diverse director candidates, as well as candidates diverse in skills, experience at policy-making levels in areas that are relevant to our global activities, and functional, geographic, or cultural background.

In its consideration of potential director candidates, the Governance Committee reviews the short-term and long-term strategies and interests of the Company to determine what current and future skills and experiences are required of the Board in exercising its oversight function. Specific search criteria evolve over time to reflect the Company’s dynamic business and strategic needs and the changing composition of the Board, and may include such factors as:

The Governance Committee also considers succession planning in light of anticipated retirements, and for Board and Committee Chair roles, to maintain relevant expertise and depth of experience.

In addition, all director candidates are also expected to possess or demonstrate:

The Governance Committee may retain a search firm to assist in identifying and evaluating new candidates for director nominees and may also consider referrals from directors, shareholders, or other sources. The Governance Committee evaluates and interviews potential Board candidates and makes appointment recommendations to the full Board. All members of the Board may interview candidates.

Regular Review of Board Composition Drives Refreshment

Assess Develop a search profile of relevant skills, background and experience sought in new directors Identify Information provided to third-party search firms Potential candidates identified by independent directors, shareholders, independent search firm, our people Evaluate Governance Committee screens candidates for qualifications, skills, diversity, independence and potential conflicts Candidates meet with directors Recommend Governance Committee recommends selected candidates to the Board Results Two new directors over the last three years

Recent Board Refreshment. As a result of the foregoing process, the Board has added two new directors over the last three years, each of whom has brought valuable and diverse backgrounds and perspectives to the Board. The most recent appointment was Ms. Borkar in December 2020, who is Corporate Vice President, Azure Hardware Systems and Infrastructure at Microsoft. In this role, she leads the core organizations building Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, including silicon, systems, and supply chain. Ms. Borkar has extensive experience in semiconductor design, having served in engineering and executive roles at IBM Corporation and

Intel Corporation. Ms. Borkar brings to our Board experience in the semiconductor industry, chip design, and cloud computing, as well as leadership and management experience.

Re-nomination of Directors for Election at Annual Meeting. In considering whether to recommend re-nomination of a director for election at our Annual Meeting, the Governance Committee considers factors such as:

Based on the Governance Committee’s recommendation, the Board selects director nominees and recommends them for election by Applied’s shareholders.

Shareholder Recommendations or Nominations. The evaluation procedures described above apply to all candidates for director nomination, including candidates submitted by shareholders. Shareholders wishing to recommend a candidate for consideration by the Governance Committee should submit the candidate’s name, biographical data and a description of their qualifications in light of the criteria listed above to Teri A. Little, Corporate Secretary, Applied Materials, Inc., 3225 Oakmead Village Drive, M/S 1268, P.O. Box 58039, Santa Clara, CA 95052, or by e-mail at corporatesecretary@amat.com.

Shareholders wishing to nominate a director should follow the specific procedures set forth in our Bylaws.

Corporate Governance Guidelines

Applied’s Corporate Governance Guidelines establish the governance framework within which the Board conducts its business and fulfills its responsibilities. These guidelines and other important governance materials are available on our website at: http://www.appliedmaterials.com/company/investor-relations/governance-documents. The Board regularly reviews our Corporate Governance Guidelines in light of legal and regulatory requirements, evolving best practices and other developments.

Board Leadership

Our corporate governance framework provides the Board flexibility to determine the appropriate leadership structure for the Company and whether the roles of Chair and CEO should be separated or combined. In making this determination, the Board considers many factors, including the needs of the business, the Board’s assessment of its leadership needs from time to time, and the best interests of shareholders. If the role of Chair is filled by a director who does not qualify as an independent director, the independent directors will designate a Lead Independent Director.

The Board believes that it is currently appropriate to separate the roles of Chair and CEO. The CEO is responsible for setting our strategic direction and the day-to-day leadership of our business, while the Chair, along with the rest of our independent directors, ensures that the Board’s time and attention are focused on effective oversight of the matters most critical to Applied. Mr. Iannotti, an independent director, currently serves as the Chair of the Board. Mr. Iannotti has significant experience and knowledge of Applied, including having worked with two CEOs and different management teams at Applied, and the Board believes that his deep knowledge of the Company and industry, as well as his strong leadership and governance experience, enable him to lead the Board effectively and independently.

Director Onboarding and Education

When new directors join our Board, they participate in a comprehensive onboarding program to learn about our industry, business, strategies, and policies. The multi-day onboarding program includes meetings with senior executives to discuss our businesses, strategy, operations, and our corporate functions such as finance, technology, information systems and legal, and a tour of the Maydan Technology Center, our state-of-the-art R&D facility. New directors also meet with the executives and staff supporting the Committees on which they sit, as well as the Committees’ external consultants and advisors. Each new director is also partnered

with an experienced fellow director “mentor” to facilitate the integration of the new director to the Board.

For continued education regarding our business and industry, we provide presentations by internal and external experts during Board meetings on topics such as technology inflections, industry trends, changes in the geopolitical and macroeconomic landscape, and the ESG landscape, with particular focus on the implications and impact to the Company. Our Board and Committees also regularly review developments in corporate governance to continue enhancing the Board’s effectiveness. We encourage directors to participate in external continuing director education programs and provide reimbursement for expenses associated with this participation. Throughout the year, Board members also attend Company events, including Analyst Day, our Engineering and Technology (ET) Conference, and Diversity Day. These interactions, along with meetings with leaders below the CEO Executive Staff level throughout the year, give directors additional visibility to provide oversight of the Company’s culture, strategies, and operations.

Board and Committee Evaluations

Our Board recognizes that a thorough, constructive evaluation process enhances our Board’s effectiveness and is an essential element of good corporate governance. Each year, the Governance Committee, in consultation with our independent Board Chair, reviews and determines the design, scope, content, and execution of the evaluation process, including whether to engage a third party to facilitate the evaluation.

The evaluation process consists of assessments of the Board, each standing committee of the Board and individual directors. Written questionnaires solicit feedback on a range of issues, including Board and Committee structure and composition; meeting process and dynamics; execution of key responsibilities; interaction with management; and information and resources.

Following completion of the written questionnaires, aggregated results, including all written comments, together with data analyzing results compared to the prior year, are provided to the Chair, who meets with each director individually to discuss additional input on these topics and to provide individual feedback. Committee chairs lead a discussion of evaluation results for their respective Committees and a summary of Board and Committee evaluation results is discussed with the full Board, including suggestions for updating policies and practices per evaluation results. Director suggestions for improvements to the evaluation questionnaires and process are considered for incorporation for the following year.

Applied has implemented an enterprise risk management (“ERM”) program, overseen by the Audit Committee, which provides an enterprise-wide perspective on Applied’s risks. The risks identified are reported to the Board, with a focus on the most significant risks facing the Company, including strategic, operational, financial, and legal and compliance risks. Oversight responsibility for a particular risk may fall

within an area of responsibility and expertise of one of the Board Committees. Management reviews the ERM program activities regularly with the Audit Committee, presents an analysis of risk mitigation strategies to the Board or the respective Committee with oversight responsibility for the risk, and provides annual risk mitigation updates to the full Board.

Risk Assessment of Compensation Programs. We have assessed our compensation policies, plans, and practices, and determined that they do not create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on Applied. To make this determination, our management reviewed Applied’s compensation policies, plans, and practices, and assessed the following aspects: design, payment methodology, potential payment volatility, relationship to our financial results, length of performance period, risk-mitigating features, performance measures and goals, oversight and controls, and plan features and values compared to market practices. Management reviewed its analysis with the Human Resources and Compensation Committee, which agreed with this determination. Applied also has in place various controls to mitigate risks relating to compensation policies, plans, and practices, such as executive stock ownership guidelines and a clawback policy that enables the recovery of certain incentive compensation payments in certain circumstances.

Management Succession Planning

The Board and the HRCC recognize that developing the capabilities of Applied’s executives is vital to our ability to capitalize on our opportunities and increase long-term shareholder value. Accordingly, the HRCC’s most important goal is to oversee the Company’s programs that foster executive capability and retention, with emphasis on leadership development, management capabilities, and succession plans.

We build our leadership capability using a multi-step approach to succession planning for our most critical roles, including CEO, executive, and technology leadership positions. Our executive succession planning process is a carefully designed, thoughtful, and long-term approach overseen by the HRCC and the Board. With the guidance of the HRCC, the Board also maintains a CEO emergency succession plan. We plan, and prepare as many years in advance as possible, for anticipated transitions to ensure leadership continuity and positive outcomes for the Company. Another key component of succession planning is leadership assessment and development of potential successors, including moving leaders into new, increasingly complex roles that complement their professional development. In addition, diversity of our succession pipelines is a priority of our Board and the Company, and we strive to ensure a diverse succession slate.

Management updates the HRCC on executive leadership developments quarterly and reports to the full Board on succession planning annually. The HRCC regularly discusses and reports to the Board with respect to succession and development programs for the CEO and other senior executives, with an eye toward ensuring development of the talent needed to lead Applied today and in the future and readiness of succession candidates who can assume top management positions without undue interruption. Board members have opportunities throughout the year to engage

with members of senior management and other high-potential leaders in a variety of formal and informal settings, including Board meetings and events, preparatory meetings, analyst meetings, and internal and external business and technology conferences. The HRCC and Board also regularly discuss individual executive transitions as the need arises over the course of the year. The Board’s goal is to have a long-term and continuing process for effective senior leadership capability, development, and succession, and to ensure that there are readily available choices when the time is right.

Shareholder Rights

In addition to direct engagement through our recurring shareholder engagement program discussed below, we have instituted a number of mechanisms that allow shareholders to advance their points of view, including:

Right to Call a Special Meeting. Our Bylaws permit shareholders holding at least 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock to call a special meeting.

Right to Act by Written Consent. Our Certificate of Incorporation permits shareholders holding at least 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock to initiate the process for shareholders to take action by written consent without a meeting.

Proxy Access. Our Bylaws permit proxy access. Any shareholder (or group of up to 20 shareholders) owning 3% or more of Applied’s common stock continuously for at least three years may nominate up to two individuals or 20% of our Board, whichever is greater, as director candidates for election to the Board, and require us to include such nominees in our annual meeting proxy statement.

Majority Voting. Under our Bylaws, in any uncontested election of directors (an election in which the number of nominees does not exceed the number of directors to be elected), any nominee who receives a greater number of votes cast “for” their election than votes cast “against” their election will be elected.

Our Bylaws provide that in the event an incumbent director receives more “against” than “for” votes, they shall tender their resignation after certification of the shareholder vote. Our Governance Committee, composed entirely of independent directors, will consider the offer of resignation, taking into consideration all factors it deems relevant, and recommend to the Board the action to be taken. The Board must take action on the recommendation within 90 days following certification of the shareholder vote. No director who tenders an offer of resignation may participate in the vote on the Governance Committee’s recommendation or the Board’s determination of whether to accept the resignation offer. Applied will publicly disclose the Board’s decision, including, if applicable, the reasons for rejecting an offer to resign.

Shareholder Engagement

We believe that strong corporate governance should include regular engagement with our shareholders to enable us to understand and respond to shareholder concerns.

Investor Relations. Our senior management team, including our CEO, CFO, and members of our Investor Relations team, maintain regular contact with a broad base of investors, including through quarterly earnings calls, individual meetings, and other channels for communication, to understand their concerns. In 2021, senior management

participated in 100 meetings with investors, including 94 meetings with our CFO and 24 with our CEO.

Shareholder Outreach Program. In addition, we have a robust shareholder outreach program, which is a recurring, year-round effort, led by a cross-functional team that includes members of our Investor Relations, Global Rewards, ESG, and Legal functions, with participation of our independent directors, where appropriate. This engagement enables us to build meaningful relationships over time with our shareholders.

We engage with a significant cross-section of our shareholder base, including large institutional investors, pension funds, and other investors. Topics of discussion include key business, Board, governance, executive compensation, environmental, sustainability, and diversity and inclusion matters, as well as other subjects of interest to our shareholders. Based on feedback from shareholders, we have over the last few years adopted proxy access, a special meeting right, and the right for shareholders to act by written consent, and implemented changes to our executive compensation programs.

During our off-season outreach in 2021, we contacted the holders of approximately 53% of our outstanding shares, and engaged in active discussions on these topics with investors who requested meetings, representing approximately 36% of our shares outstanding. Of these meetings, our Board Chair participated in discussions with investors representing approximately 19% of our shares outstanding. In direct response to the shareholder feedback we received in 2021, we are including a skills matrix and enhancing disclosures regarding Board diversity and the Value Creation Awards in this Proxy Statement.