SAN FRANCISCO, No (Reuters) - Applied Materials Inc <AMAT.O>, the No. 1 computer chip-equipment maker, posted a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit and said it will slash 1,800 jobs, or 12 percent of its workforce to cut costs, boosting its shares more than 5 percent.

The company said on Wednesday it expects the job cuts, which will begin in the fiscal 2009 first quarter and be completed at the end of that year, to generate annual savings of $400 million.

Applied Materials, like others in the chip-equipment industry, is suffering from a glut of chip manufacturing capacity in the face of a weak economy.

"As Applied moves into fiscal 2009, we will implement further cost-reduction actions due to declining market conditions, and we will invest in strategic priorities," Chief Executive Mike Splinter said in a company statement.

The company said earnings in its fiscal fourth-quarter ended October 26 fell to $231.1 million, or 17 cents a share, from $421.8 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding certain items, Applied Materials earned 18 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 14 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue fell 13 percent to $2.04 billion, ahead of the average analyst estimate of $1.94 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.

New orders in the quarter came in at $2.21 billion, comparable with a year ago.

Applied Materials' shares have fallen about 40 percent this year. The company cut 1,000 jobs, or 7 percent of its workforce, in January.

Applied Materials' has been pushing aggressively into the solar equipment business, which the company thinks could make up as much as 25 percent of its sales in 2009. Some analysts point to the solar shift as a potential bright spot.

In June, Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASM International <ASMI.AS> turned down Applied Materials' $800 million takeover bid.

Shares of Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials closed down 6.6 percent at $9.95 and rose to $10.50 in extended trading.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway, editing by Richard Chang)

Publié le 12 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Reuters