AMAT Stock: Applied Materials beats fiscal Q4 targets

Semiconductor equipment seller Applied materials (deaden) late Thursday beat analysts’ estimates for the fiscal fourth quarter and provided higher than expected forecasts for the current period. But AMAT stock fell of late following a reported US criminal investigation into its exports to China.

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The Santa Clara, California-based company earned adjusted earnings of $2.12 per share on sales of $6.72 billion for the year. Quarter ending October 29. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $1.99 per share on sales of $6.52 billion. On a year-over-year basis, Applied Materials’ earnings rose 4% while sales fell slightly.

For the current quarter, the company said it expects adjusted earnings of $1.90 per share on sales of $6.47 billion. This is based on the middle of his guidance. Wall Street was modeling earnings of $1.84 per share on sales of $6.38 billion in the fiscal first quarter. In the same period a year earlier, Applied Materials had adjusted earnings of $2.03 per share on sales of $6.74 billion.

But the optimistic report was overshadowed by A Reuters Applied Materials is the subject of a US criminal investigation for possibly evading export restrictions on SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker, a report said.

Sources told the news outlet that the Justice Department is investigating Applied Materials for sending hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment to SMIC without export licenses. The United States has restricted shipments of advanced semiconductor and chip-making equipment to China for national security reasons.

AMAT stock declines after news report

In after-hours trading on the stock market today, AMAT stock fell more than 7% to 143.76. During Thursday’s regular session, AMAT stock fell 0.4% to close at 154.81.

On November 10, AMAT stock broke through a double-bottom base at a buy point at 148.40, according to IBD MarketSmith charts.

Applied Materials ranks fourth out of 27 stocks in IBD’s Semiconductor Equipment industry group, according to IBD inventory check. AMAT stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 92 out of 99.

Furthermore, AMAT stock is on the IBD Tech Leaders list.

Follow Patrick Seitz on X, formerly Twitter, at @IBD_PSeitz For more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.

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