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Applied Materials Beats Earnings Estimates

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/techsemis/10338732.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FRE...

By Bill Snyder
TheStreet.com Senior Writer
2/13/2007 4:38 PM EST
Click here for more stories by Bill Snyder

Applied Materials (AMAT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr - Rating) bested Wall Street's first-quarter earnings expectations but came in slightly light on the top line.

The semiconductor equipment maker earned a profit of $403 million, or 29 cents a share, up year over year from $143 million, or 9 cents a share. Net sales were $2.28 billion, up 23% from the same quarter last year.
Analysts polled by Thomson First Call were looking for a profit of 27 cents a share on sales of $2.35 billion.

Gross margin for the quarter was 46.7%, up from 45.1% a year ago but down from 47.1% in the previous quarter.

The company will give second-quarter guidance in a conference call Tuesday afternoon.

"We executed effectively and met our operational objectives for the quarter," said Mike Splinter, president and CEO. "Rapid customer acceptance of our new leading-edge platforms for chemical vapor deposition and metal etch, as well as strong demand for Applied's service products, set the stage for future growth."

New orders of $2.54 billion for the first quarter increased 24% from a year earlier but decreased 6% from the latest fourth quarter. The decline in orders for the first quarter reflected a significant decrease in orders for displays as customers delayed their capacity expansion plans.

I see the stock nicely higher after hours. If anyone has conference call details please share them! Thanks, RtS