Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Buy, Sell or Hold KLA Stock Before Q1 Earnings?

Read MoreHide Full Article

KLA Corporation (KLAC - Free Report) is scheduled to report its first-quarter fiscal 2025 results on Oct. 30.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2025, KLAC expects revenues to be $2.75 billion, +/-$150 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $2.76 billion, indicating an increase of 14.98% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

KLA expects non-GAAP earnings of $7 per share, +/-60 cents. The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $7.03 per share, unchanged in the past 30 days.

KLAC’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 6.57%.

KLA Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

 

KLA Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

KLA Corporation price-eps-surprise | KLA Corporation Quote

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

Let’s see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement:

Factors to Note

KLA’s fiscal first-quarter 2025 performance is expected to have benefited from the strong performance of its wafer inspection business, owing to strong demand for advanced wafer inspection applications in leading-edge technology development.

Advanced packaging needs and the rising complexity of semiconductor processes require precision tools, which is likely to have driven demand for KLA’s specialized process control equipment.

Increased investments across multiple nodes and rising capital intensity in both Foundry & Logic and Memory are expected to have driven top-line growth.

The Foundry & Logic segment is expected to account for about 80% of KLAC’s Semi Process Control Systems revenues in the fiscal first quarter of 2025, and Memory is expected to comprise the remaining 20%.

However, weakness in the PCB, Display and Component Inspection segment remains a headwind. A weaker anticipated product mix is anticipated to offset the benefit of higher revenue volume, slightly impacting the gross margin.

What Our Model Says

According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.

KLA has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming releases:

Arista Networks (ANET - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +0.96% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zack’s #1 Rank stocks here.

ANET shares have gained 68.4% year to date. Arista Networks is set to report its third-quarter 2024 results on Nov. 7.

Check Point Software (CHKP - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.26% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Check Point Software shares have gained 31.8% year to date. CHKP is set to report its third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 29.

Garmin (GRMN - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.03% and has a Zacks Rank #2 at present.

Garmin shares have gained 26.1% year to date. GRMN is set to report its third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 30.

Published in