A little more "color" on AMAT from Dow Jones report.
<<=DJ BEFORE THE BELL: H-P, Applied Materials After 2Q Reports
19 May 08:50
By George Stahl
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The impact of earnings from two tech bellwethers late
Tuesday, including a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, set a bullish
tone to premarket trading Wednesday.
[snip]
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) shares added 1.6% to $19.15 after reporting its
biggest quarterly profit in three years, the result of cost-cutting efforts and
rising demand from semiconductor makers for manufacturing capacity.
The company, the largest producer of tools for making computer chips, said
second-quarter net income was $373 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with
a net loss in the year-earlier period of $62 million, or 4 cents a share. Sales
rose to $2.02 billion from $1.11 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson First
Call, on average, had expected earnings per share for the latest period of 19
cents on revenue of $1.89 billion.
Analysts praised Applied Materials for its second-quarter report but wondered
how long the outperformance can last.
"AMAT delivers excellent results, beating guidance and consensus estimates,"
UBS Equities analyst Byron Walker wrote. "But orders and revenues guided to
single-digit growth for the July quarter, consistent with our belief that order
and earnings momentum are slowing.">>
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