KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of $5.47-6.67 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $5.73. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.375-2.625 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.43 billion. KLA also updated its Q4 2024 guidance to 5.470-6.670 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna reiterated a neutral rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a buy rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an outperform rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $720.42.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $33.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $706.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The stock 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. The company 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 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 103.31% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.