Applied Materials (AMAT) Stock Up Ahead of Today’s Earnings Report
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Applied Materials (AMAT) - Get Report stock is rising 0.12% to $16.81 in midday trading on Thursday before the company reports its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter and full year financial results, due out after the market close this afternoon.
The company is expected to report a year-over-year increase in earnings per share and revenue for fiscal 2015 fourth quarter and full year.
Analysts have estimated earnings of 29 cents per share on $2.4 billion in revenue for the latest quarter.
Last year, Applied Material posted earnings of 27 cents per share on revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter ended October 26, 2014.
For the full year, analysts have forecasted earnings of $1.18 per share on $9.62 billion in revenue, surpassing earnings of $1.07 per share on revenue of $9.07 billion that the company reported for fiscal 2014.
Santa Clara, CA-based Applied Materials provides engineering solutions to the semiconductor, flat panel display and solar-powered electricity industries.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates APPLIED MATERIALS INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate APPLIED MATERIALS INC (AMAT) a BUY. This is driven by a number of strengths, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and reasonable valuation levels. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 11.0%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 9.9%. This growth in revenue appears to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, improving the earnings per share.
- AMAT's debt-to-equity ratio is very low at 0.24 and is currently below that of the industry average, implying that there has been very successful management of debt levels. To add to this, AMAT has a quick ratio of 1.57, which demonstrates the ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.
- APPLIED MATERIALS INC has improved earnings per share by 12.5% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, APPLIED MATERIALS INC increased its bottom line by earning $0.87 versus $0.21 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.18 versus $0.87).
- The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment industry. The net income increased by 9.3% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $301.00 million to $329.00 million.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: AMAT
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.