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Applied Materials Inc. fluctuated between slight gains and losses in the extended session Thursday after the company turned in record results and an outlook that topped Wall Street’s expectations.
Applied Materials
AMAT,
shares sought direction after hours, moving between 1% gains and losses, following a 1.4% gain in the regular session to close at $129.20. The stock has surged 96% in the past 12 months, as the S&P 500 index
SPX,
has gained 31%.
The company reported record net income of $1.72 billion, or $1.87 a share, for the fiscal third quarter, compared with $841 million, or 91 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings, which excluded the effect of share-based compensation and other items, were $1.90 a share, compared with $1.06 a share in the year-ago period.
Revenue rose to a record $6.2 billion from $4.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast $1.77 a share on revenue of $5.94 billion.
Applied Materials makes equipment to manufacture semiconductors, which have been in short supply recently as demand for electronics, cars and other products that rely on chips has spiked amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Applied Materials delivered record performance as long-term trends fueled by the digital transformation of the economy drive strong, secular demand for semiconductors,” said Gary Dickerson, Applied Materials chief executive, in a statement.
“Applied has the broadest and most enabling portfolio of technologies to accelerate our customers’ roadmaps, putting us in a great position to outperform our markets again in 2021 and the years ahead,” Dickerson said.
For the fourth quarter, Applied Materials forecast adjusted earnings of $1.87 to $2.01 a share on sales of $6.08 billion to $6.58 billion. Analysts on average had been expecting adjusted earnings of $1.81 a share on revenue of $6.04 billion, according to FactSet.
