As semiconductor manufacturing stocks’ Q4 earnings season wraps, let's dig into this quarter's best and worst performers, including FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM) and its peers.
The semiconductor industry is driven by demand for advanced electronic products like smartphones, PCs, servers and data storage. The growth of data and technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G networks and smart cars are also creating a next wave of growth for the industry. To keep up with ever changing customer needs requires new tools that can design, fabricate and test at ever smaller sizes and more complex architectures, and that is driving the demand for semiconductor capital manufacturing equipment.
The 14 semiconductor manufacturing stocks we track reported a slower Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 2.62%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 3.47% above consensus. There has been a stampede out of high valuation technology stocks as raising interest rates encourage investors to value profits over growth again and while some of the semiconductor manufacturing stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they have not been spared, with share prices declining 8.14% since the previous earnings results, on average.
FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM)
With customers across the foundry and fabless markets, FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM) is a US-based provider of test and measurement technologies for semiconductors.
FormFactor reported revenues of $166 million, down 19% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 6.89%. It was a decent quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in inventory levels but declining revenue.
“As anticipated, FormFactor’s fourth quarter revenue and profitability were down sequentially from the third quarter,” said Mike Slessor, CEO of FormFactor,
FormFactor pulled off the strongest analyst estimates beat of the whole group. The stock is up 3.25% since the results and currently trades at $29.89.
Is now the time to buy FormFactor? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Best Q4: Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI)
Headquartered in Israel, Nova (NASDAQ: NVMI) is a provider of quality control systems used in semiconductor manufacturing.
Nova reported revenues of $151.2 million, up 24.5% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 2.31%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with very optimistic guidance for the next quarter and a significant improvement in inventory levels.
The stock is up 4.36% since the results and currently trades at $95.19.
Is now the time to buy Nova ? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Weakest Q4: Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL)
Moving away from a low margin storage device management chips in one of the biggest semiconductor business model pivots of the past decade, Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a fabless designer of special purpose data processing and networking chips used by data centers, communications carriers, enterprises, and autos.
Marvell Technology reported revenues of $1.42 billion, up 5.62% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and a decline in operating margin.
The stock is down 13.6% since the results and currently trades at $39.89.
Read our full analysis of Marvell Technology's results here.
Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC)
Operating for more than 60 years, Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) is a provider of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors used for Internet of Things systems and Cloud connectivity.
Semtech reported revenues of $152.5 million, down 20% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with declining revenue and gross margin.
The stock is down 32.6% since the results and currently trades at $21.65.
Read our full, actionable report on Semtech here, it's free.
KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)
Formed by the 1997 merger of the two leading semiconductor yield management companies, KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is the leading supplier of equipment used to measure and inspect semiconductor chips.
KLA Corporation reported revenues of $2.98 billion, up 26.8% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 5.51%. It was a decent quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in inventory levels but underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.
The stock is down 13.7% since the results and currently trades at $370.
Read our full, actionable report on KLA Corporation here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned