Applied Materials raises its outlook while Globant’s revenue stalls
Applied Materials reported strong revenue growth and a higher outlook, while Globant’s revenue stayed nearly flat despite fast growth in its AI line, exposing different paths from AI demand to company results.
Economics & Markets··Morning
Applied Materials posts a strong quarter and lifts guidance
Applied Materials reported third-quarter revenue of 9.115 billion dollars, up 25 per cent from a year earlier, with non-GAAP earnings of 3.50 dollars a share. GAAP earnings were 3.17 dollars a share, up 43 per cent, and non-GAAP earnings rose 41 per cent. The non-GAAP gross margin was 50.4 per cent and the non-GAAP operating margin 34.0 per cent. Semiconductor Systems brought in 7.040 billion dollars, Applied Global Services 1.781 billion dollars and the display unit 294 million dollars, so wafer-fab equipment still dominates the mix. The company guided fourth-quarter revenue to 10.25 billion dollars, plus or minus 500 million dollars, and fourth-quarter non-GAAP earnings to 4.02 dollars a share, plus or minus 0.20 dollars. That guidance raises the near-term bar after a quarter already marked by double-digit revenue growth and non-GAAP operating margins in the mid-thirties. For a supplier whose largest segment sells tools into semiconductor manufacturing lines, the print ties process-equipment demand to both booked sales and the revenue the company says it expects next quarter.[1]
Globant’s top line stalls while Glob.AI keeps growing
Globant reported second-quarter revenue of 614.4 million dollars, essentially flat against a year earlier, with IFRS net income of 1.8 million dollars. Glob.AI annual recurring revenue reached 52.8 million dollars, 61 per cent higher than in the first quarter, so the dedicated artificial-intelligence line expanded quickly even as the consolidated top line barely moved. The IFRS gross margin fell to 33.9 per cent from 35.4 per cent and the adjusted operating margin to 13.2 per cent from 15.0 per cent. Headcount stood at 27,411, of whom 25,632 were IT professionals. The company guided third-quarter revenue to between 607 million dollars and 615 million dollars, and full-year revenue to between 2,428 million dollars and 2,462 million dollars. Those ranges keep near-term and full-year sales close to the second-quarter run-rate rather than projecting a sharp rebound. An AI product metric can grow at a high sequential rate while overall revenue and margins stall, because the AI line is still a fraction of a multi-hundred-million-dollar quarterly base.[2]
Two earnings paths from the same demand story
Set side by side, the two releases show how demand linked to artificial intelligence can reach company results through different industrial seats. Applied Materials’ Semiconductor Systems segment alone booked 7.040 billion dollars in the third quarter, and the firm raised fourth-quarter revenue guidance to about 10.25 billion dollars after overall sales rose 25 per cent. Globant’s consolidated second-quarter revenue stayed near 614.4 million dollars year on year even as Glob.AI annual recurring revenue jumped 61 per cent from the prior quarter to 52.8 million dollars. One path runs through wafer-fabrication tools that scale with chipmakers’ capital budgets; the other runs through a software and professional-services base where a fast-growing AI label still sits inside a largely flat total. Margins tell a related story: Applied Materials reported a 34.0 per cent non-GAAP operating margin, while Globant’s adjusted operating margin slipped to 13.2 per cent from 15.0 per cent and its IFRS gross margin to 33.9 per cent from 35.4 per cent. Equipment order books can lift revenue and guidance together, while an AI product line can accelerate without yet moving a services firm’s total sales or repairing its margins.[1], [2]
