The end of an earnings season can be a great time to assess how companies are handling the current business environment and discover new stocks. Let’s have a look at how KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) and the rest of the semiconductor manufacturing stocks fared in Q4.
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. Investors abandoned cash burning companies since high interest rates will make it harder to raise capital and while some of the semiconductor manufacturing stocks have fared somewhat better that others, they have not been spared, with share prices declining 8.29% since the previous earnings results, on average.
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 December quarter marked another strong period of growth and profitability, as we navigated through marketplace volatility and supply chain challenges," said Rick Wallace, president and CEO of KLA Corporation.
The stock is down 12.9% since the results and currently trades at $373.4.
Is now the time to buy KLA Corporation? 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 7.5% since the results and currently trades at $98.05.
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 14.5% since the results and currently trades at $39.5.
Read our full analysis of Marvell Technology's results here.
Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)
Founded in 1967 as the first company that built the tools for other companies to use to make semiconductors, Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) is the largest provider of semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment.
Applied Materials reported revenues of $6.74 billion, up 7.46% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 1.25%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with a decline in operating margin and slow revenue growth.
The stock is down 0.3% since the results and currently trades at $115.01.
Read our full, actionable report on Applied Materials here, it's free.
Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX)
Founded in 1980 by David Lam, who pioneered semiconductor etching technology, Lam Research (NASDAQ:LCRX) is one of the leading providers of the wafer fabrication equipment used to make semiconductors.
Lam Research reported revenues of $5.28 billion, up 24.9% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 3.83%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and an increase in inventory levels.
The stock is up 0.49% since the results and currently trades at $490.8.
Read our full, actionable report on Lam Research here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned