KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Issues Earnings Results

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. KLA updated its Q4 guidance to $5.47-6.67 EPS and its Q4 2024 guidance to 5.470-6.670 EPS.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $706.26 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $685.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $600.67. KLA has a 1 year low of $369.00 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $720.42.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related 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 value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related 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 value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.