As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here's a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q4. Today we are looking at the semiconductor manufacturing stocks, starting with Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX).
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 4 semiconductor manufacturing stocks we track reported a mixed Q4; on average, revenues missed analyst consensus estimates by 0.04%, while on average next quarter revenue guidance was 2.71% under consensus. The whole tech sector has been facing a sell-off since late last year and while some of the semiconductor manufacturing stocks have fared somewhat better, they have not been spared, with share price declining 15% since earnings, on average.
Weakest Q4: Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX)
Founded in 1980 by David Lam, who pioneered semiconductor etching technology, Lam Research (NASDAQ:LCRX) is a one of the leading providers of the wafer fabrication equipment used to make semiconductors.
Lam Research Corporation reported revenues of $4.22 billion, up 51.3% year on year, missing analyst expectations by 4.26%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and a miss of the top line analyst estimates.
“Lam delivered record calendar year 2021 financial performance within a robust wafer fabrication spending environment” said Tim Archer, Lam Research’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
Lam Research Corporation delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. The stock is down 23.1% since the results and currently trades at $458.99.
Is now the time to buy Lam Research Corporation? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
Best 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 $1.34 billion, up 68.3% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 1.4%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in operating margin and an exceptional revenue growth.
Marvell Technology delivered the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 6.62% since the results and currently trades at $60.90.
Is now the time to buy Marvell Technology? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.
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 $6.27 billion, up 21.4% year on year, beating analyst expectations by 1.8%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with a meaningful improvement in operating margin compared to the previous year, but an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.
Applied Materials delivered the strongest analyst estimates beat but had the slowest revenue growth in the group. The stock is down 19.2% since the results and currently trades at $113.67.
Read our full analysis of Applied Materials's results here.
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 $2.35 billion, up 42.5% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with an exceptional revenue growth but an underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.
The stock is down 11.2% since the results and currently trades at $320.50.
Read our full, actionable report on KLA Corporation here, it's free.
The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned