Applied Materials said on Monday it will spend $5 billion in the next three years as part of its ongoing stock repurchase plan. Shares of the company were up more than 2% in Monday afternoon trading. The 52-week range is $14.39 to $21.06. Applied Materials is the world's largest maker of semiconductor production equipment. In fiscal years 2005 and 2006, the company spent $5.8 billion to repurchase about 340 million shares, or about 20% of its outstanding stock. "We view Applied Materials shares as undervalued and the buyback as well timed," wrote Standard & Poor's Equity Research analyst David Kaplan in a note to investors. Mike Splinter, president and chief executive officer at Applied Materials, said in a statement that the company has delivered increased value to stockholders through growth of revenue and earnings as well as our stock repurchase program and payment of quarterly dividends. Applied Materials makes equipment to deposit film on chip wafers, to etch the circuits into the material and to fire ions into the wafers to change their electrical properties. The company also makes inspection equipment. |
