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 Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $33.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $706.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $685.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $599.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34. KLA has a one year low of $369.00 and a one year high of $729.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an outperform rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $720.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 corporate insiders.

About KLA

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.