Applied Materials Inc has reported second-quarter financial results that show continued recovery for the company. The Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor equipment maker posted net income of $141.6m, a slight increase from the year-ago quarter’s $141.2m and a huge jump from pro forma earnings of $42.5m in the first quarter. Revenue for the quarter was $1.12bn, down 5.0% year-over-year but up 51% from the $742m booked in the prior quarter. Earnings per share came in at $0.36, down a penny from a year ago but well ahead of Wall Street expectations of $0.27.
As the company indicated last quarter, when it also beat expectations, it is quickly emerging from the prolonged slump in the overall semiconductor industry. New orders for the second quarter were a record $1.39bn, up 35% from $1.03bn in both the prior quarter and the year-ago quarter and 103% from the $684m in the fourth quarter. Geographically, North America saw 30% of new orders, while Europe booked 14%, Japan 17%, Korea 8%, Taiwan 25% and Southeast Asia and China 6%. Backlog at the end of the quarter $1.36bn, from $1.15bn last quarter. Gross margin was 46.3%, up from 43.2% in the prior quarter and down from 47.1% a year ago.
The company says the improved results came as it capitalized on demand for equipment needed to manufacture narrower linewidths, such as 0.18 micron and smaller. It also claims to be reaping the benefits of its restructuring actions last year, with improved productivity and reduced costs. The strong order growth reflected an increase in demand from manufacturers of logic, memory and communications chips. An expanded line of products for copper- based chips was also introduced during the quarter.
For the six-month period, net income fell 47.4% to $194.5m on revenue down 25.1% at $1.86bn. Earnings per share dipped to $0.50 from $0.98. Results include one-time charges of $5.0m and $32.2m for this year and last year, respectively.
