Craig-Hallum analyst Christian Schwab is "encouraged" by Applied Materials' acquisition of Kokusai Electric, as it is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings and expands opportunities into batch as the company continues to broaden its product portfolio as the industry migrates to new structures and materials. The analyst believes the acquisition will strengthen Applied's presence in memory and expand into wafer batch processing, a segment of semiconductor capital equipment which has outpaced the growth of the broader WFE market. He reiterates a Buy rating and $50 price target on the shares.