KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Updates 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 (EPS) guidance of 5.470-6.670 for the period, compared to the consensus 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

KLAC stock traded up $16.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $672.95. 1,018,485 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 958,914. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $684.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $597.60. KLA has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The company has a market cap of $91.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 0.86%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 29.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays raised their price target on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One 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.com, KLA has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $696.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA 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 transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. 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.