Applied Materials posted fiscal first quarter earnings that surpassed analysts’ expectations.
The chip equipment maker’s adjusted earnings came in at $2.03 a share for the quarter ending January, well above the consensus expectation of $1.93 (per FactSet poll) . Revenue rose +7% year-over-year to $6.74 billion, vs. analysts’ expectations of $6.7 billion.
Applied Material’s forecast range for current quarter revenue has a midpoint of $6.4 billion, compared with the consensus of $6.3 billion.
The company experienced solid growth in the U.S., Europe, Taiwan, Korea and Southeast Asia, However, it faced contraction in sales from China and Japan.
Applied Materials’ Semiconductor Systems ( 77% of its net sales) rose +13% year-over-year, on strength in ICAPS . Applied Global Services (20% of net sales) were up +4%. However, sales from Display and Adjacent Markets (3% of net sales) fell -54% vs. the year-ago quarter.
The company indicated that it is experiencing order cancellations from memory chip customers, and also consumer demand weakness in computers and smartphones in the current macro environment. However, its long-term outlook for the semiconductor industry remains “highly positive”.