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

To: BKinAz who wrote (18941)	5/17/2006 11:22:01 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Now we have the official story why AMAT is down today.....the outlook was "pedestrian"....."deceleration" was another term used. I believe we have heard that one before.....apparently anything less than 22% QoQ growth is NOT acceptable! Applied Materials Shares Slip on Outlook Wednesday May 17, 11:17 am ET By Betsy Schiffman, AP Business Writer Applied Materials Shares Slip on 3rd-Quarter Outlook NEW YORK (AP) -- Semiconductor production equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. shares got dinged in morning trading on Wednesday after the company delivered "stellar" second-quarter results, but its outlook gave investors cause for concern. On Tuesday the company reported a 35 percent spike in second-quarter earnings, but Wall Street analysts were unimpressed with third-quarter projections. W.R. Hambrecht analyst Ray Kukreja called Applied Materials' order guidance -- for a 5 percent to 10 percent quarter-over-quarter increase -- "arguably pedestrian." "Even as management was obscurely optimistic about the spending outlook, we believe that industry-wide order deceleration will continue into the latter part of this year likely causing Applied Materials shares to be range-bound in the near-term," Kukreja wrote in a note. Additionally, Pacific Crest analyst Mark W. Bachman said the company's bookings growth is decelerating faster than expected, and he questioned the company's forecast for semiconductor capital spending in 2007. "Management seemed confident in its view for the rest of 2006 and 2007, citing expectations of a 10 percent increase in semiconductor capital spending for 2007. We remain skeptical. Our forecast for 2006 spending is $53.2 billion, which, according to the company, would imply $58.5 billion in spending in 2007. We believe the forecast is optimistic and would go against the more rational spending pattern that we have seen in 2005 and 2006," Bachman wrote in a note. Needham analyst Robert Maire cautioned investors that it could be difficult for the company to duplicate results going forward. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect the company to report, on average, 27 cents per share for the third quarter on $2.33 billion in revenue. "Applied Materials put in stellar performance for the quarter with great orders, however, the great performance in the April quarter makes July sequential improvements that much harder," Maire wrote in a note. Shares of Applied Materials, which have traded between $15.46 and $21.06 over the last year, were down 72 cents, or 4 percent, at $17.13 in morning trading on the Nasdaq.