Earnings Preview: Analysts Expect Applied Materials' Revenue, Earnings to Dip

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) releases its next round of earnings this Wednesday, November 16, 2011. Here's Benzinga's essential guide to Applied Materials' fourth quarter earnings report.

Earnings and Revenue:

Wall Street expects an EPS of 21 cents/share and revenues of $2.16 billion. Applied Materials' latest numbers will no doubt be compared with the company's year-ago quarter, when it reported a profit of 36 cents/share on revenues of $2.89 billion. Investors are bracing themselves for Wednesday when we'll learn if the company reports lower EPS and slightly reduced revenue from the year-ago quarter, as analysts are predicting.

Here's how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

(Estimates Source: Zacks)

Stock Performance:

As of November 10, 2011, Applied Materials' current share price was $12.25. Shares are down 11.3% year to date. For a full 12 months, the return has declined by 5.8%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

• Long-term shareholders are already wary of 12-month losses prior to the announcement

Average Stock Rating:

The average rating by analysts is a Hold. The strength of this rating has declined slightly over the past three months.

Competitors:

Want to check out the performance of Applied Materials closest competitors? Take a look at some of the company's peers in the information technology sector.

• Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ: ACLS): Hold with a $0.01 recent quarter EPS
• ASM International N.V. (USA (NASDAQ: ASMI): Moderate Buy with a $0.38 recent quarter EPS
• CVD Equipment (NASDAQ: CVV): Strong Buy with a $0.14 recent quarter EPS
• FSI International (NASDAQ: FSII): Moderate Buy with a $0.05 recent quarter EPS

Applied Materials is in the silicon wafers industry, which has experienced price/earnings growth of 1.2%.

Finally, a description of the company's main areas of operation: Applied Materials manufacturers and produces capital equipments, and it provides manufacturing equipment, software, and solutions for the global semiconductor, flat panel liquid crystal displays, solar, and related industries. .

Take Action:

There is your peek into Applied Materials' upcoming earnings numbers, including some competitors to watch around the time of the announcement. Check back in with us after the announcement for a full recap. In the meantime, here are some links to explore today.

• To see up-to-date news on Applied Materials, click here
• To see other trading ideas, click here
• To see other company earnings recaps, click here