Applied Materials Shares Tumble After 2Q

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Applied Materials Inc. slid in morning trading Wednesday as analysts raised concerns about the company's solar cell business following fiscal second-quarter results.

The Santa Clara, Calif. company, which also provides chip manufacturing equipment, posted a loss of $255.4 million on Tuesday for the quarter ended April 26.

With demand weak, revenue tumbled 53 percent to $1.02 billion, though not as far as analysts expected.

The company told analysts in a conference call late Tuesday that it had cut 1,600 employees and 300 temporary workers by the end of the quarter and plans to bring the total reduction to 2,300 by the end of the fiscal year.

Looking ahead, Applied Materials forecast a loss of 6 cents to 14 cents per share in the fiscal third quarter.

The company expects sales to remain flat or fall as much as 15 percent from the quarter before, implying sales of $867 million to $1.02 billion.