KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $5.47-6.67 for the period, compared to the consensus 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Bank of America increased their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a buy rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $696.58.

KLA Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $16.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $672.95. 1,018,438 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 958,888. KLA has a 12-month low of $355.88 and a 12-month high of $729.15. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $684.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $597.60. The firm has a market cap of $91.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 29.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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