Semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials (tick: AMAT) turned in its second consecutive loss for its financial quarter.
The company, which makes kit for companies like Intel, AMD and other chip companies, made a net loss of $255 million on sales of $1.02 billion.
In the same period last year, Applied had sales of $2.15 billion and made a net profit of $303 million.
Applied diversified into solar equipment but that sector has been particularly hard hit by the credit crunch.
New orders in the particular sectors Applied plays in speak a telling story, with orders for the same period last year in brackets.
The silicon division registered new orders of $259,000 ($1,061,000,000); Applied Global Services $236,000,000 ($159,000,000); Display $13,000,0000 ($59,000,000) and energy and environment $141,000,000 (-$71,000,000). New equipment orders, traditionally Applied’s strength, fell by 70 percent, indicating the effect the credit crunch has had on its customers, the semiconductor companies.
Mike Splinter, former Intel employee and now chairman and CEO of Applied, said that the period was marked by exceptionally low demand but had managed to return a dividend to shareholders and made investments to secure its future.
Applied will cut around 12 percent of its employees by the end of its financial year.
