Applied Materials beats Q1 expectations and forecasts strong Q2

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) beat expectations and provided a stronger-than-expected forecast for the first quarter.

Its shares rose 1.7% in after-hours trading and are up 18% so far this year.

Applied Materials said first-quarter revenue rose 7%, to $6.74 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $2.03 beat the expectation for $1.93 a share. Analysts were expecting revenue for the quarter of $6.69B.

Applied Materials supplies equipment, services and software for the making of semiconductors. The chip industry has been in a slump after a drop-off in demand for PCs and other devices that run on chips, and amid inventory gluts at many chip makers.

“While the economy and semiconductor industry are facing challenges in 2023, Applied Materials delivered strong first quarter results, and we believe Applied is well positioned to outperform our markets this year,” said CEO Gary Dickerson. “Our resilience is underpinned by our strong positions with leading customers at key technology inflections, large backlog of differentiated products and growing service business.”

Of the revenue in the quarter, $5.16B came from semiconductor systems.

In the second quarter of fiscal 2023, Applied said it expects net sales to be approximately $6.4B, plus or minus $400 million. The outlook includes ongoing supply chain challenges and a negative estimated impact of $250 million dollars related to a cybersecurity event recently announced by one of our suppliers, the company said in a press release.

It forecast adjusted EPS for the second quarter in the range of $1.66 to $2.02. Analysts were forecasting second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.76 on revenue of $6.29B.