This tech company beat earnings forecasts by two cents last quarter, posting EPS of $0.34, and next quarter looks even more promising.
Applied Materials (AMAT)
From Martin’s Ultimate Portfolio
Applied Materials (AMAT) provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display, solar photovoltaic (PV) and related industries. It is the go-to player in manufacturing semiconductor chips for electronics, flat-panel displays for computers, smartphones and televisions.
Applied employs more than 14,000 people in 18 countries, and it has more than 10,200 patents. Without a doubt, its innovations will continue to shape the future of technology.
Results speak louder than words. That’s our take from Applied Materials second-quarter earnings report, especially its explosive sales growth.
Sales were $3.5 billion—the highest in 15 years and up 37% from year-ago levels. And sales were up 162% in Southeast Asia ($252 million) and increased 73.3% in China ($752 million), as compared with the year-ago quarter.
In addition to an impressive sales trend, three-out-of-four business units showed an increase in operating income from the year-ago quarter.
AMAT broke out in July to its highest level since September 2000. In addition, the company recently experienced a number of analyst upgrades as well as upwardly revised earnings estimates. Here are some of the highlights:
· Seven broker upgrades so far this year.
· 13 of 17 analysts have strong buy ratings on AMAT.
· Q3 EPS forecasts revised up 33% over the past 90 days.
· And when it comes to AMAT’s earnings, a picture is worth a thousand words …
As you can see from the chart, AMAT’s third-quarter EPS are expected at $0.48. That’s up 41% from the previous quarter and up 45% from the year-ago quarter. Good news for AMAT.
Martin D. Weiss, Martin’s Ultimate Portfolio, published by Money and Markets, a Division of Weiss Research, Inc., www.moneyandmarkets.com/services/trading-services/martinsultimate-portfolio; Email: issues@e.moneyandmarkets.com, 800-291-8545, July 29, 2016