Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Trumptown who wrote (266998)	11/12/2003 4:56:09 PM
From: UnBelievable	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Applied Materials Hurt by Charges, Weak Sales SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Dow Jones)--Applied Materials Inc.'s (AMAT) fiscal fourth-quarter net income plunged 90% amid hefty restructuring expenses and lower revenue. For the quarter ended Oct. 26, the manufacturer of machines that make semiconductors late Wednesday reported net income of $15.5 million, or a penny a share, compared with $147.2 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest quarter's results included $113.5 million in restructuring-related expenses and an income-tax benefit of $33.5 million from the restructuring. Excluding those items, Applied Materials said it earned $95.5 million, or 6 cents a share. Net sales fell 16% to $1.22 billion from $1.45 billion. When Applied Materials released its fiscal third-quarter results in August, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Bronson projected fourth-quarter earnings of 4 cents to 5 cents a share on net sales flat to slightly higher than the third quarter's $1.05 billion. New orders fell 18% from a year earlier to $1.28 billion, but jumped 21% from the third quarter. President and Chief Executive Mike Splinter said Applied Materials was pleased with the revenue and order growth from the third quarter, which he said reflects "customers' confidence in business conditions." "We believe that we are in the early stages of an industry uptrend," Splinter said. "Stronger end-user demand for devices such as wireless [personal computers] and communications products is driving" semiconductor manufacturers' needs for Applied Materials' products, he added. For all of fiscal 2003, the company swung to a net loss of $149.1 million, or 9 cents a share, from year-earlier net income of $269 million, or 16 cents a share. Excluding restructuring costs, Applied Materials said it would have earned $223.1 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with $336.5 million, or 20 cents a share, in fiscal 2002. Net sales dropped 12% to $4.48 billion from $5.06 billion.