KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) updated its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. 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

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $33.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $706.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $685.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $599.79. KLA has a 52 week low of $369.00 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $750.00 price target (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $720.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.