Applied Materials Rising After Doubling Dividend, Adding $6B to Buybacks -- Barron's Blog
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 4:55 PM ET 2/14/2018
Symbol Last Price Change | AMAT | 51.96 | +2.41 (+4.86%) | | CSCO | 42.09 | +0.86 (+2.09%) | | QUOTES AS OF 04:00:00 PM ET 02/14/2018 |
Shares of chip equipment giant Applied Materials(AMAT) are up 28 cents, or 0.6%, at $52.24, after the company this afternoon reported fiscal Q1 revenue and profit that topped analysts' expectations, and forecast revenue and profit higher this quarter as well, and said it would double its dividend payout per quarter, and add $6 billion to its share buybacks program.
The dividend goes to 20 cents per share, payable June 14th to holders of record as of May 24th. The new payout of 80 cents brings the current yield to 1.5% on an annual basis, as the after-hours price.
The increase brings buybacks to $8.8 billion in total authorization.
Buybacks and dividends are a theme this evening, with Cisco Systems(CSCO) announcing in its report adding $25 billion to buybacks, adding up'ing its dividend by 14%.
Chief executive Gary Dickerson said the company sees "sustainable strength in our markets as large, powerful trends drive a fundamental shift in the demand for semiconductors and displays."
Applied's revenue in the three months ended in January rose by 28%, year over year, to $4.2 billion, yielding EPS of $ 1.06 per share, topping the consensus estimate of $4.1 billion and 98 cents per share.
For the current quarter, the company sees revenue in a range of $4.35 billion to $4.55 billion, and EPS of $1.10 to $ 1.18, versus consensus for $4.2 billion and $1.01.
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