Applied Materials can't seem to leave the solar equipment business alone at the moment, as it continues its acquisition trail. The latest is Baccini S.p.A for a cool $330 million in greenbacks.

The news sent me scurrying to dig into the market occupied by Baccini, and I must admit that at first I couldn’t see why AMAT has spent that much on a small company. Later on in a conference call to discuss the acquisition, some interesting aspects of the deal emerged [read more].