Investing.com -- Shares in Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) jumped more than 5% in after-hours trading after the semiconductor chip maker topped analysts' earnings forecasts last quarter while posting record, all-time highs in new orders.
During Applied Materials' third quarter of Fiscal Year 2016, the Santa Clara, California-based company saw its new orders soar to $3.66 billion for the quarter, up 26% on an annual basis. At the same time, backlog orders rose to $4.95 billion, jumping 60% from the same quarter last year. As a result, third quarter revenues surged 13% to $2.82 billion, while net profits rose exponentially from $329 million to $505 million. On an adjusted per share basis excluding certain items, Applied Materials reported earnings of 0.50, up substantially from 0.33 in the third quarter of 2015.
Analysts expected to see adjusted earnings per share of 0.48 on revenues of $2.84 billion.
"With earnings and orders at an all-time high, Applied is performing better than ever and in a great position to sustainably outperform our markets," said Gary Dickerson, president and CEO. "We are in the early stages of large, multi-year industry inflections that are driving our business today and creating new opportunities for future growth."
Applied Materials is a leading multinational software supplier, which provides equipment and software to enable semiconductor chips to function effectively for various electronics products. The company's software is applicable for a wide variety of electronic devices including: smartphones, flat panel displays, computers and televisions.
In addition, Applied Materials announced on Thursday generated $981 million in cash from operations, paid $108 million in cash dividends and repurchased nine million shares of common stock equaling $196 million.
Shares in Applied Materials surged 1.54 or 5.56% to 29.22 in after-hours.