KLA (KLAC) closed at $171.24 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.13% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.01% gain on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.01%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.2%.
Heading into today, shares of the maker of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors had lost 2.91% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.57% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.67% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from KLAC as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect KLAC to post earnings of $2.54 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 4.1%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.47 billion, up 31.63% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $9.88 per share and revenue of $5.71 billion. These totals would mark changes of +16.78% and +24.97%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for KLAC. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. KLAC is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Digging into valuation, KLAC currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.36. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 21.88, which means KLAC is trading at a discount to the group.
It is also worth noting that KLAC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.47. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Electronics - Miscellaneous Products industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.99 as of yesterday's close.
The Electronics - Miscellaneous Products industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 72, which puts it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
KLA Corporation (KLAC): Free Stock Analysis Report
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