KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.45 EPS

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45, Briefing.com reports. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. KLA updated its Q1 guidance to $6.40-7.60 EPS and its Q1 2025 guidance to 6.400-7.600 EPS.

KLA Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $7.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $762.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,822,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,318. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.70 billion, a PE ratio of 39.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $808.68 and a 200-day moving average of $714.17. KLA has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $820.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.