KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Issues Q3 Earnings Guidance

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) issued an update on its third quarter earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.23-5.43 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $5.29. The company issued revenue guidance of $2.175-2.425 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $2.32 billion. KLA also updated its Q3 2024 guidance to 4.230-5.430 EPS.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $6.80 on Monday, reaching $690.70. The company had a trading volume of 797,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,017,944. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.40 billion, a PE ratio of 35.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $640.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $558.32. KLA has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA will post 22.82 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a neutral rating and issued a $625.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $635.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $360,000. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 490 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 318 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 51,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,056,000 after buying an additional 1,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,731,000 after buying an additional 3,805 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.49% 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.