Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) reported better-than-expected financial results for the second quarter on Thursday. “Applied Materials continues to deliver strong performance in 2024, with fiscal second quarter revenue and earnings towards the high end of our guided range,” said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO of Applied Materials. “Applied Materials has the most enabling portfolio of materials engineering technologies for chips that underpin tectonic shifts in technology including AI, IoT, electric vehicles and clean energy, which puts us in a great position to grow along with these long-term, secular trends.” The company said it sees third-quarter revenue of $6.65 billion, plus or minus $400 million, versus estimates of $6.576 billion. The company projects third-quarter adjusted earnings to be between $1.83 and $2.19 per share, versus estimates of $1.98 per share. Applied Materials shares fell 1.6% to close at $214.03 on Thursday. These analysts made changes to their price targets on Applied Materials

The following is a summary of the Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Applied Materials reported Q2 net sales of nearly $6.65 billion, a slight increase from previous quarters. AGS revenue grew 7% year over year to $1.53 billion. The company returned approximately $1.1 billion to shareholders, including $266 million in dividends and $820 million in buybacks. Non-GAAP gross margin increased by 70 basis points to 47.5%, while non-GAAP EPS grew by 4.5% to $2.09. For Q3, Applied Materials forecasts a revenue of $6.65 billion, plus or minus $400 million, and non-GAAP EPS of $2.01, plus or minus $0.18. Business Progress: Revenues from the advanced packaging product portfolio is expected to grow to about $1.7 billion this year and possibly double in future. Applied Materials is targeting to generate more than $2.5 billion in revenue from gate-all-around nodes this year and expects this to potentially

We raise our price target by $7 to $240, 25x our CY 25 EPS view ($9.61), near peers and above AMAT’s 3-year average (~16x) on rising AI momentum and improving conditions across multiple end markets. We raise our FY 24 (Oct.) EPS view by $0.07 to $8.45, raise FY 25’s by $0.19 to $9.41, and initiate a FY 26 view at $10.58. AMAT posts Apr-Q sales of $6.65B (flat Y/Y) and EPS of $2.09 (+5%), near consensus, while raising its ’24 advanced packaging sales projection by $0.2B to $1.7B on stronger HBM packaging growth and providing a bullish forecast for GAA-related equipment sales (~$2.5B of incremental sales expected in CY 25) as customers ramp 2-nm node activity. We see tailwinds from rising AI demand fueling further growth across both logic and memory, and we are encouraged by positive commentary on ICAPS strength considering global weakness in the auto / industrial

Applied Materials (AMAT) faces the prospect of softer China demand and “strong offsetting tailwinds” in logic chips and advanced semiconductor packaging after fiscal Q2 results topped consensus, Morgan Stanley said Friday in a note. “At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we do believe the company that China will trend back toward the more traditional 30% of revenue from the current 43%,” the note said. “We remain on the cautious side of that; a region that is less than 5% of the global manufacturing footprint in foundry and memory driving over 40% of equipment sales and driving growth in trailing edge ICAP revenues higher during the worst analog inventory correction in 30 years, has unsustainable elements that make us cautious,” Morgan Stanley said. Still, “several trends are likely to prove strong offsetting tailwinds as the company has positioned themselves well in advanced logic and advanced packaging,” the note