Applied Materials Inc. on Thursday reported order growth and a 31% jump in profit, helped by a smaller income-tax charge, though revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations.

The maker of semiconductor manufacturing tools, often seen as a proxy for chip makers, on Thursday reported a 7.5% rise in orders to $2.42 billion over the prior year.

Shares of the company added 2.5% in after-hours trading.

Applied Materials has lately seen caution from foundries, a large category of companies that make chips to order for others for applications such as mobile phones.

The firm, based in Santa Clara, Calif., often experiences wide swings in its financial results as makers of chips or computer displays react to demand by building or cutting production capacity.

In April, Applied and Tokyo Electron Ltd. of Japan abandoned a $29 billion merger that would have created a giant supplier of equipment used by chip makers, citing Justice Department antitrust concerns.

For the period ended Oct. 25, Applied said silicon systems orders were up 8.2% to $1.44 billion, while new orders in its applied global services segment ticked up 1.9% to $761 million.

Display orders rose to $195 million from $130 million a year earlier.

In all, Applied said earnings grew to $336 million, or 28 cents a share, from $256 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier. The latest quarter included a $61 million income tax provision, compared with $142 million in the prior-year period.

Excluding special items, earnings were 29 cents a share. The company had forecast earnings of 27 to 31 cents a share.

Revenue grew 4.6% to $2.37 billion. Analysts had forecast $2.4 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters.

For the current quarter, Applied forecast adjusted earnings of 23 cents to 27 cents. Analysts recently forecast 24 cents a share.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at Chelsey.Dulaney@wsj.com

 

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2015 17:35 ET (22:35 GMT)

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