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Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on Thursday, February 15th, after market close.
Analysts expect a year-over-year decline in both the top and bottom lines, with earnings per share of $1.91 on revenues of $6.49 billion.
The semiconductor equipment maker is expected to report first-quarter results in-line with market estimates, benefitting from strong China demand for its memory chips.
However, observers remain concerned about the company’s outlook, due to slowing demand from the mature U.S. and European markets.
“We are more optimistic than the Street on China sustainability and memory recovery, but acknowledge some risks in ex-China lagging edge investments, which we estimate is a small part of the portfolio,” noted investment firm TD Cowen.
According to brokerage Morgan Stanley, “Consistent with LAM and KLAC, we expect DRAM revenue at AMAT to exceed record highs, as the company should benefit from continued China demand.”
Over the last three months, the company has seen significant revisions to its estimates. Its earnings per share estimates have been revised upwards 17 times vs. three downward revisions, while its revenue estimates have seen 16 upward moves, compared to four downgrades.
Seeking Alpha analysts at large consider AMAT a Hold. This compares with average Wall Street rating of Buy and SA Quant rating of Hold.