Recession Special Earnings at Applied Materials

Given this morning’s morbid 2008 sales report from the Semiconductor Industry Association, the fact that chip equipment supplier Applied Materials (AMAT) lowered guidance for its first quarter is hardly surprising. Applied slashed its earnings forecast today, saying it expects sales for Q1 to suffer. thanks to the “deteriorating financial condition” of its customers.

More ominously, the company said it’s planning further cost-reduction efforts, “including shutdowns and additional restructuring activities, as appropriate for the unprecedented business conditions.” While not entirely unexpected, such “activities”–presumably layoffs–would be an ugly blow to a workforce steeling itself for the up to 1800 job cuts Applied already plans to make in 2009.

[Image credit: Flickr/aturkus]