Applied Materials Up After Hours; No Surprise In FQ3, Outlook

shares trended up in after-market action after the company posted fiscal third-quarter results and an outlook in line with expectations. Adjusted gross margin for the semiconductor equipment company came in for the quarter at 45.5 percent up 130 basis points sequentially and 260 basis points year over year. Orders of $2.48 billion in the third quarter were down six percent sequentially and up 24 percent from a year earlier, while backlog grew nine percent sequentially to $2.97 billion from the second quarter. For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company forecast adjusted earnings of $0.25 to $0.29 a share, on revenue of about $2.27 billion. Analysts expect $0.26 a share on revenue of $2.28 billion. Net earnings in the recent second quarter grew to $303 million or $0.24 a share, from $168 million or $0.14 a share in the year-earlier period. Adjusted profit equaled $0.28 cents a share, compared with $0.18 a year earlier. Revenue grew to $2.27 billion, from $1.98 billion a year earlier. Wall Street expected adjusted earnings of $0.27 a share on revenue of $1.98 billion. In after-hours trading, Applied Materials changed hands recently up two percent to $21.58 a share.