Applied Materials: Applied Materials Honored as a 2015 World's Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute

• Fourth consecutive year recognized for ethical business practices

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 9, 2015 - Applied Materials, Inc. today announced it has been recognized as a 2015 World's Most Ethical Company (http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/)^® by the Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices.

"Applied Materials' reputation as a trusted business partner is one of our most valuable assets," said Chad Fentress, vice president, Global Ethics and Compliance at Applied Materials. "I am proud of our employees for doing business the right way, every day and I look forward to upholding our strong tradition of ethical conduct in the future."

This is the fourth consecutive year Applied Materials has received the annual award, which recognizes organizations that foster a culture of ethics and transparency at every level of the company.

"The World's Most Ethical Companies embrace the correlation between ethical business practice and improved company performance. These companies use ethics as a means to further define their industry leadership and understand that creating an ethical culture and earning the World's Most Ethical Companies recognition involves more than just an outward facing message or a handful of senior executives saying the right thing," said Ethisphere's CEO, Timothy Erblich. "Earning this recognition involves the collective action of a global workforce from the top down. We congratulate everyone at Applied Materials for this extraordinary achievement."

Now in its ninth year, the World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient (http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/scoring-methodology/) (EQ) framework developed over years of research to provide a means to assess an organization'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. The EQ framework and methodology is determined, vetted and refined by the expert advice and insights gleaned from Ethisphere's network of thought leaders and from the World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel (http://ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/advisory-panel).

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%).

This year, Ethisphere's 2015 World's Most Ethical Company list featured more than 132 companies spanning 50 industries, 21 countries and 5 continents. To view the complete list, visit www.ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/ (http://www.ethisphere.com/worlds-most-ethical/wme-honorees/).

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

About Applied Materials
Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) is the global leader in precision materials engineering solutions for the semiconductor, flat panel display and solar photovoltaic industries. Our technologies help make innovations like smartphones, flat screen TVs and solar panels more affordable and accessible to consumers and businesses around the world. Learn more at www.appliedmaterials.com (http://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 and The World's Most Ethical Companies Executive Briefing. Ethisphere is also the leading provider of independent verification of corporate ethics and compliance programs. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com (http://ethisphere.com).

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Applied Materials Contacts:
Kevin Winston (mailto:[e-mail]) (editorial/media) 408.235.4498
Michael Sullivan (mailto:[e-mail]) (financial community) 408.986.7977

Ethisphere Contact:
Clea Nabozny (mailto:[e-mail]) 408.397.2658

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Source: Applied Materials via Globenewswire

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