Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) topped Wall Street’s earnings expectations in the company’s latest quarterly report.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company announced first-quarter earnings of $135 million, or 13 cents per share, below the year-ago profit of $703 million, or 65 cents per share. Due to the changes in the U.S. tax code, the company was hit with a $1 billion tax charge, including an estimate of a one-time transition tax payable over eight years.
On an adjusted basis, Applied Materials earned $1.06 per share to kick off its fiscal 2018. Analysts polled by FactSet were calling for adjusted earnings of about $1.03 per share.
On the revenue front, the company raked in roughly $4.2 billion, an increase compared to the year-ago total of $3.28 billion. The Wall Street consensus estimate called for revenue of $4.11 billion, according to FactSet.
Applied Materials also doubled its quarterly dividend to 20 cents per share. “The dividend increase and additional repurchase authorization reflect Applied’s confidence in the underlying strength of our markets along with our company’s technology leadership and strategy to deliver profitable growth and increase shareholder value,” said Dan Durn, Senior Vice President and CFO.
The company projects its second-quarter earnings to be in the range of $1.10 to $1.18 per share on an adjusted basis, with the midpoint figure being a rise of 44% year-over-year. Applied Materials predicts its revenue will be in the range of $4.35 billion to $4.55 billion.
AMAT shares fell 0.7% after hours.
