KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Issues 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 Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $33.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $706.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $685.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $599.79. KLA has a 52-week low of $369.00 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James restated an outperform rating and set a $750.00 target price (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $720.42.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.