Applied Materials to slash 1,500 jobs

Applied Materials to slash 1,500 jobs

Chipmaker to cut up to 12% of workforce; reports better-than-expected profit for fiscal fourth quarter.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Applied Materials, Inc. announced Wednesday it will cut between 1,300 and 1,500 employees, or 10% and 12% of its global workforce, over the next 18 months as part of its restructuring plan.

Half of the cuts will be in the U.S., and the other half will be in the company's overseas staff, said company spokesman David Miller.

The reductions, which the company will start to make in the next few days, will cost the chipmaker between $100 million and $125 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 and will save $450 million on an annual basis.

In October 2008, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company had announced plans to eliminate 1,800 positions to cut costs by $400 million annually. That measure coupled with other cutbacks resulted in savings of $460 million for fiscal 2009, the company said in a statement.

Applied Materials (AMAT, Fortune 500) also reported better-than-expected earnings for the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 24. Net income slipped 40% to $138 million, or 10 cents per share, compared to the same period last year. Analysts expected the technology company's profit to tumble by 85%.

Revenue fell 25% to $1.53 billion compared to last year, better than the 36% drop analysts expected.

Shares of Applied Materials rose .8% in after-hours trading.

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