Tuesday, February 12, 2008

UPDATE 1-Applied Materials profit tops estimates, shares rise (AMAT)

From Reuters:

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) posted a quarterly profit on Tuesday that beat expectations, as the top supplier of equipment for producing microchips benefited from higher capital spending by makers of memory chips.

Applied Materials shares rose 2.1 percent in extended trading after the results were announced.

Applied Materials said its net profit for the second fiscal quarter was $411.4 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with $412.8 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company had been expected to earn a net profit of $386.3 million, or 28 cents per share, according to the average forecast of analysts on Reuters Estimates....MORE