KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 5.470-6.670 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 5.680. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.4 billion-$2.6 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.4 billion. KLA also updated its Q4 guidance to $5.47-6.67 EPS.

KLA Stock Up 4.9 %

KLA stock traded up $33.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $706.26. 1,193,523 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 821,545. KLA has a 12-month low of $369.00 and a 12-month high of $729.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $685.41 and a 200 day moving average of $599.79. The firm has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a buy rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $720.42.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB, Display and Component Inspection.