Applied Materials (AMAT) Sinks After Hours on Earnings Miss

Chip equipment giant Applied Materials (AMAT) was falling more than 8% after-hours on Thursday after reporting disappointing October quarter results and forward guidance.

For the fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 28, the company posted revenue of $4.01 billion and GAAP EPS of $0.89, versus consensus estimates of $4.00 billion in revenue and EPS of $0.92, according to FactSet. 

For the first quarter of fiscal 2019 ending in January, Applied said it expects net sales to be in the range of $3.56 billion to $3.86 billion, and adjusted EPS to be in the range of $0.75 to $0.83. Analysts had forecast EPS of $0.92 and revenue of $3.94 billion for the January quarter. 

“In fiscal 2018, each of Applied’s major businesses delivered double-digit growth despite challenging conditions in the second half of the year,” said Gary Dickerson, Applied Materials’ president and CEO, in a press release. “While near-term market headwinds remain, overall industry spending remains robust, and we are focused on positioning Applied Materials for the long term, expanding our role in the A.I.-Big Data era and winning the major technology inflections ahead.”