Applied Materials Shares Drop 2% After Company Issues Outlook

Applied Materials Inc. shares dropped 1% in after-hours trade Wednesday, after the company beat expectations but delivered a lower 2015 outlook. The company reported net income of $348 million, or 28 cents per share, up from $256 million, or 21 cents per share in the year-earlier period. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of 27 cents, in line with the FactSet Consensus. Applied Materials reported sales of $2.36 billion, up from $2.26 billion in the year-earlier period and slightly above the FactSet consensus of $2.33 billion. The company issued a second-quarter 2015 outlook of adjusted earnings per share in the range of 26 cents to 30 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 32 cents. It said the outlook excludes charges related to completed acquisitions of 3 cents per share.