Lam Research Corp. and Novellus Systems Corp., two of the leading chip equipment firms, each exceeded consensus analyst expectations for September quarter sales, one day after the semiconductor equipment and materials trade group SEMI said the book-to-bill ratio for North American-based gear vendors rose to 1.17 in September from 1.06 in August. Several smaller suppliers also posted improved results Wednesday and made bullish statement on the market's recovery.

Lam (Fremont, Calif.) reported third-quarter revenue of $318.5 million, up 46 percent from the previous quarter but down 27 percent compared to the same period of 2008. Lam posted a net income of $16.8 million, or 13 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $88.5 million, or 70 cents per share, for the previous quarter, and a net income of $8.9 million, or 7 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

"Lam Research had strong shipments and revenue performance in the September quarter, allowing the company to return to profitability and generate positive cash flow once again," said Steve Newberry, Lam's president and CEO, in a statement. Newberry said the company looked forward to an improved business environment and thanked employees for sacrifice during the downturn.

Novellus (San Jose, Calif.) reported third-quarter sales of $176.9 million, up 48.4 percent from the second quarter and down 29.3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2008. The company posted a net loss of $4 million, or 4 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $50 million, or 52 cents per share, in the previous quarter and a net income of $1.4 million, or 1 cent per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Novellus said third-quarter bookings improved to $171.5 million from $111.1 million in the second quarter, while shipments of $165.4 million improved 37.9 percent sequentially.

"This quarter was characterized by strong customer order activity driven by improved fab utilization levels, increased memory prices and demand for PCs and smartphones," said Richard S. Hill, Novellus chairman and CEO, in a statement.

Consensus analyst expectations had called for Lam's September quarter revenue to be $287.5 million and Novellus's to be $172.4 million, according to Yahoo Finance.

Lam said it expects revenue for the current quarter to be between $440 million and $460 million, with earnings of between 33 and 43 cents per share. Novellus said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $215 million and $245 million, with non-GAAP earnings per share of between 20 and 40 cents per share. Both companies' outlooks came in ahead of consensus analyst expectations, with Lam's targets in particular well above Wall Street's.