Applied Materials Swings To Q1 Profit - Update

(RTTNews) - Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) Thursday reported a swing to profit in the second quarter, driven largely by a 19 percent growth in revenues and the absence of an impairment charge recorded last year. The semiconductor equipment maker's earnings and revenues for the quarter were in line with Wall Street estimates.

Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials' reported a second-quarter profit of $262 million or $0.21 per share from a loss of $129 million or $0.11 per share last year.

Last year's results included a charge of impairment of goodwill and intangible assets of $278 million.

Adjusted earnings for the second quarter were $348 million or $0.28 per share, up from $199 million or $0.16 per share last year. On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.28 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Applied Materials' second-quarter revenues rose 19 percent to $2.35 billion from $1.97 billion a year earlier. Analysts had a consensus revenues estimate of $2.35 billion for the quarter.

Segment-wise, Silicon Systems Group sales increased 7 percent to $1.58 billion, while Applied Global Services sales rose 5 percent to $534 million. Display sales declined 8 percent to $147 million

"Applied gained 1.4 points of wafer fab equipment market share in 2013 as we enabled major technology inflections for our customers with our unique capabilities in precision materials engineering," said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO.

Looking forward to the third quarter, the company expects third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.25 to $0.29 per share, and net sales flat to down 5 percent from previous quarter, with revenues of $2.23 to $2.35 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.27 per share on revenues of $2.32 billion for the quarter.

AMAT closed Thursday's trading at $18.69, down $0.26 or 1.37%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $0.61 or 3.26% in the after-hours trade.