Applied Materials Inc. AMAT recently announced changes at the management level with the appointment of Adrianna Ma to the board, effective immediately. She will also serve as a member of the Audit Committee of the Board.
Previously, Ma worked as the Managing Director at General Atlantic LLC, a global growth equity firm, where she joined in 2005. She has also been a board member at a number of technology-enabled growth companies across the world.
She is experienced in diverse fields ranging from investment management to technology, apart from being a business leader in the software and hardware industries. Alongside, she has been a Managing Partner at the Fremont Group, a private investment company, since May 2015, where she was responsible for BF Global, the flagship portfolio of funds, including investment strategy, asset allocation, manager selection and risk management.
Management believes that her considerable experience and business proficiency will be an asset for Applied Materials and help it to achieve its long-term goals.
Ma boasts a BS in electrical science and engineering, an ME in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Given her experience and understanding of Applied Materials’ business, she will likely contribute to the company’s growth.
Looking Ahead
Applied Materials issued a decent first-quarter fiscal 2016 guidance. The company expects revenues to be down 2–9 percentage points sequentially. However, management expects non-GAAP earnings per share in the range of 23 cents to 27 cents, much higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 25 cents at the mid-point.
To Conclude
Applied Materials is one of the world’s largest suppliers of fabrication equipment to semiconductor, LCD and solar PV cell manufacturers. We believe that the company’s recent product launches, acquisitions and deal wins will boost results.
Moreover, management increased investments to prepare for the ongoing transitions to larger wafer sizes and smaller process nodes. The ramp up in FinFET, 3D NAND and new display technology will likely be the growth catalysts, going forward.
Also, developing trends in mobility, connectivity, video and wearable devices are fueling the industry’s growth, in turn supporting advancement in mobile processors, solid-state storage and interactive displays.
Currently, Applied Materials has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked technology stocks are NVIDIA Corporation NVDA, Texas Instruments Inc. TXN and MeetMe, Inc. MEET. Each of the stocks sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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