Applied Materials, Keysight, Farfetch, Deere, XPeng, and More Market Movers

Fiscal third-quarter earnings at

Applied Materials

(AMAT) topped Wall Street expectations as did its fourth-quarter outlook, sending shares of the maker of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment up 2.8% in premarket trading. “Over the past several years, we have focused our strategy and investments on key technologies to accelerate the Internet of Things and AI era, enabling us to consistently deliver strong results in 2023 and positioning

Applied Materials

for sustainable outperformance,” said CEO Gary Dickerson in a statement.

Keysight Technologies (KEYS), the test equipment manufacturer, issued a weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter outlook and the stock was falling 11% in premarket trading. Keysight forecast earnings of $1.83 to $1.89 a share on revenue between $1.29 billion and $1.31 billion. Analysts were expecting profit of $2 a share on revenue of $1.39 billion.

Farfetch

(FTCH) slumped 38% after the luxury fashion company’s second-quarter sales of $572 million missed analysts’ expectations of $650 million.

Bill Holdings

(BILL), which makes software that helps small businesses pay their bills, said it expects fiscal 2024 revenue of $1.29 billion to below $1.31 billion, below analysts’ expectations. Bill shares declined 4.5%.

Ross Stores

(ROST), the discount retailer, posted better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and raised guidance. The stock was up 5.3%.

Earnings reports are expected Friday from

Deere

(DE),

XPeng

(XPEV),

Estee Lauder

(EL), and

Palo Alto Networks

(PANW), which has taken the unusual step of scheduling its quarterly earnings release for after the close of trading. As Eric Savitz of Barron’s noted, companies rarely announce earnings, or any other significant financial news, on Friday afternoons, especially during the summer. That’s leading investors to believe Palo Alto will deliver news that shareholders may not like. 

Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com