Growth in Q2 for Applied Materials

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Applied Materials expects that its current quarter’s sales would be flat to down 10 per cent sequentially. The company’s sales beat analysts’ expectations for its second quarter. Applied Materials reported sales of $2.54 billion for the quarter ended April 29, up 16 per cent from the previous quarter and down 11 per cent compared to the year-ago quarter.

The company reported a net income of $289 million for the quarter, up from $117 million in the previous quarter but down from $489 million in the year-ago quarter, reports Dylan McGrath of EETimes.

According to Yahoo Finance, Applied’s second quarter’s sales exceeded analysts’ estimates of $2.4 billion. "Our strong performance in the quarter was driven by growing global demand for mobile products such as smartphones and tablets," said Mike Splinter, Chairman and CEO of Applied Materials.

Orders for its Silicon Systems Group increased to $1.97 billion in the quarter and the increaded demand from its foundry customers led to its growth. Net sales for the division were $1.78 billion, up 32 per cent from the previous quarter, Applied said.

Last week Applied had announced that it would cut about 250 jobs from its solar group and move manufacturing of some of its systems to Asia from Switzerland as the Quarterly sales for Applied's solar division fell to $79 million, down 62 per cent from the previous quarter.

The company said it now expects sales for the year to be at the high end of the range of $9.1 billion and $9.5 billion. It expects sales to be between $2.29 billion and $2.54 billion, flat to down 10 per cent sequentially.