KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Releases Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) issued an update on its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 5.470-6.670 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James reissued an outperform rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $720.42.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $33.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $706.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. KLA has a one year low of $369.00 and a one year high of $729.15. The company has a market cap 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $685.41 and its 200-day moving average is $599.79.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.