KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.32 EPS

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32, Briefing.com reports. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA updated its Q4 guidance to $5.47-6.67 EPS and its Q4 2024 guidance to 5.470-6.670 EPS.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC traded up $32.93 on Friday, hitting $705.88. 448,798 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 952,861. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. KLA has a 12 month low of $369.00 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $684.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $598.13.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related 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 transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $703.42.

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.