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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jeffrey D who wrote (2380)	8/14/2002 11:42:23 AM
From: Jeffrey D	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

No job cuts at AMAT. Jeff << Aug 14, 2002 (Austin American-Statesman - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) -- Applied Materials Inc. reported improved quarterly sales, earnings and new orders Tuesday, beating some Wall Street forecasts. But the company warned that it expects new orders to drop during the current quarter, which ends in October. Still, Applied Materials, the largest maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, didn't announce any job cuts, something that some financial analysts had speculated would occur because of a weak economy and signs that chip sales would continue to be soft. Applied employs about 2,600 workers in Austin, which is the main manufacturing center for the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company. The company reported net income of $115 million, or 7 cents a share, on sales of $1.46 billion for the quarter that ended July 28. Sales grew by 26 percent, and profits more than doubled from the second quarter. Analysts had expected earnings of 5 cents a share on sales of $1.3 billion. New orders grew to $1.78 billion, up 5 percent from the second quarter. But the company advised analysts that new orders could fall 5 percent to 15 percent in the company's fourth quarter. Chief Executive Officer James Morgan said the chip industry remains committed to investing in more advanced manufacturing technology to produce more advanced chips. The trend should continue, he said, because only 6 percent of the world's chip-making capacity can produce the most advanced devices. "There is a real possibility of shortage in strategic product areas once business information technology spending resumes," Morgan said. Applied reduced its research and development spending in the quarter from $277.3 million a year earlier to $276 million and cut administrative expenses from $114.4 million to $89.6 million. "We've worked very hard to control what we can control," Morgan said. North America accounted for 23 percent of new bookings and Taiwan made up 18 percent. Applied said its backlog of orders reached $3.3 billion, up from $3.11 billion in the second quarter. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, Applied reported net income of $121.8 million, or 7 cents a share, on sales of $3.62 billion, compared with net income of $590.1 million, or 35 cents a share, on sales of $6.08 billion for the same period of 2001. Analyst Mark Fitzgerald with Banc of America Securities in San Francisco said Applied's outlook for the current quarter was slightly more negative than expected. But, he added, "It is a really well-managed company and they are well-positioned. They are doing a good job in a tough environment." By Kirk Ladendorf To see more of the Austin American-Statesman, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to austin360.com (c) 2002, Austin American-Statesman, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.