Orders fall short for Applied Materials
Published: 31 Jan 2003 16:28 GMT
Applied Materials, the chip-equipment maker, said on Friday that orders placed during its first fiscal quarter will fall short of previous expectations.
Citing economic uncertainties, Applied Materials said orders placed during its first quarter will be about 35 percent below the fourth-quarter tally of $1.56bn. The company originally forecast a 20 percent decline in orders for the quarter, which ends on 26 January.
"Due to ongoing economic weakness and geopolitical uncertainties, customers deferred capital expenditures, causing a larger order shortfall than expected," James Morgan, company chief executive, said in a statement.
Orders are an indication of future sales. Applied Materials originally said that it expected its first-quarter revenue to decline by at least 20 percent from its fourth-quarter mark of $1.45bn. The company is expected to earn 2 cents per share on revenue of $1.16bn for its first quarter, according to First Call.
Applied Materials continues to suffer from the semiconductor malaise, created by the economic downturn of 2001. Though the semiconductor market has been slowly recovering, and chip sales are improving, many chipmakers have cut capital expenditures to save on costs. Intel cut capital expenditures by $1bn for 2003, meaning it will spend less on chip equipment during the year.
Meanwhile, the company said on Thursday that it would cut about 165 jobs at its Austin, Texas, facility
Applied Materials also said it would post a charge associated with job cuts and other costs, announced on 4 November, 2002. Its pretax restructuring charge is now expected to be approximately $100m, the company said on Friday.
Applied Materials will report earnings for its first fiscal quarter on 11 February.
Reuters contributed to this report.
To find out more about the computers and hardware that these chips are being used in, see ZDNet UK's Hardware News Section.
Let the Chips Central editor know what you think by email. And sign up for the weekly Chips Central newsletter.
Did you find this article useful?
25 out of 70 people found this useful
- Share this article:
