KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) updated its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $696.58.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC traded up $16.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $672.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,018,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 958,914. The company has a market cap of $91.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $684.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $597.60. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $355.88 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that KLA will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current 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 given 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 currently 29.46%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 at the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value 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 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.