Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) reported its fourth-quarter and full-year results Thursday for 2017.

The company posted earnings of 93 cents per share on a during its fourth quarter, topping analysts’ expectations of 91 cents per share

Applied Materials’ revenue for the period came in at $3.97 billion, which marked a 20% improvement compared to the year-ago mark. The figure was better than the consensus estimate of $3.94 billion.

Gross margin surged by 2.5% to 46.2%, while operating income rose 37% to $1.14 billion, amounting for 28.7% of net sales. Applied Materials paid cash dividends of $107 million, and it used $385 million to repurchase 8 million shares at an average price of $48.65.

For its full-year results, the company garnered GAAP earnings of $3.17 per share, or adjusted earnings of $3.25 per share, gaining 86% compared to the year-ago mark.

Applied Materials also garnered revenue of $14.54 billion in 2017, accounting for a 34% gain compared to the year-ago mark.

The company also generated $3.61 billion in cash from operations, shelled out dividends of $430 million and used $1.17 billion to repurchase 28 million shares at an average price of $42.08.

“This is the most exciting time in the history of the electronics industry,”  said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO. “AI will transform entire industries over the coming years, creating trillions of dollars of economic value, and Applied is uniquely positioned to deliver the innovative materials needed to enable next-generation memory and high-performance computing.”

For its first quarter of fiscal 2018, Applied Materials projects earnings in the range of 94 cents to $1.02 per share, ahead of the Wall Street outlook of 91 cents per share.

Revenue is slated to be $4 billion to $4.2 billion, topping the consensus guidance of $3.96 billion.

AMAT stock fell 2.2% after hours Thursday.