Semiconductor equipment vendor Applied Materials topped Wall Street's targets for its fiscal first quarter and guided higher for the current period. But AMAT stock wavered on Friday.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company late Thursday said it earned an adjusted $2.03 a share on sales of $6.74 billion in the quarter ended Jan. 29. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $1.93 a share on sales of $6.69 billion. On a year-over-year basis, Applied Materials earnings and sales both rose 7%.
For the current quarter, Applied Materials predicted adjusted earnings of $1.84 a share on sales of $6.4 billion. That's based on the midpoint of its guidance. Analysts were looking for earnings of $1.76 a share on sales of $6.29 billion in the fiscal second quarter.
"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," Chief Executive Gary Dickerson said in a news release. "Our resilience is underpinned by our strong positions with leading customers at key technology inflections, large backlog of differentiated products and growing service business."
AMAT Stock Is A Recent Breakout
On the stock market today, AMAT stock alternated between modest gains and losses. It ended the day up a nickel to 115.44. During the regular session Thursday, AMAT stock fell 3.4% to close at 115.39.
On Feb. 1, AMAT stock broke out of a cup base at a buy point of 116.19, according to IBD MarketSmith charts. Since then, it has stayed mostly in the 5% buy zone.
AMAT stock ranks eighth out of 29 stocks in IBD's semiconductor equipment industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. Applied Materials has an IBD Composite Rating of 89 out of 99.
Also, AMAT stock is on IBD's Tech Leaders list.
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