Applied Materials reported stronger-than-expected earnings and revenue to wrap up its fiscal year Thursday, and topped expectations with its forecast for the beginning of the new year, sending shares slightly higher in after-hours trading.
Applied Materials
AMAT,
reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $1.59 billion, or $1.85 a share, on sales of $6.75 billion, up from $6.12 billion a year ago. Adjusted earnings, which exclude stock-based compensation expenses and other items, were $2.03 a share, compared with $1.94 a share in the year-ago period.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had last estimated earnings at $1.73 a share on revenue of $6.45 billion. Those estimates have dropped since Applied Materials executives reduced their forecast in October, warning that the chip-equipment maker could lose up to $1 billion in sales because of U.S. restrictions on sales of certain tech to China.
Executives lowered their fourth-quarter earnings forecast to a range of $1.54 to $1.78 a share, including a 23-cents-a-share charge for resulting inventory and remanufacturing costs, down from a prior $1.82 to $2.18 a share. The company also lowered its fourth-quarter revenue forecast to a range of $6.15 billion to $6.65 billion, down from its prior forecast of $6.25 billion to $7.05 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had estimated earnings of $1.86 a share on revenue of $6.57 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter prior to the warning; Applied Materials managed to top both of those marks anyway.
In Thursday’s report, Applied Materials executives forecast fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.75 to $2.11 a share on revenue of $6.3 billion to $7.1 billion. Analysts had estimated earnings of $1.77 a share on revenue of $6.35 billion for the first quarter.
Shares rose more than 1% in after-hours trading Thursday immediately following the release of the results, after a 0.2% drop in the regular session to close at $104.45.
Applied Materials shares are down 34% for the year. In comparison, the PHLX Semiconductor Index
SOX,
is down 32% year to date, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
is down 17%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
is off 29%.
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