In the latest trading session, KLA (KLAC) closed at $1,929.20, marking a -9.47% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 2.65%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.35%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 4.18%.
Shares of the maker of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors witnessed a gain of 20.86% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Computer and Technology sector with its gain of 10.37%, and the S&P 500's gain of 5.47%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of KLA in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $9.97, showcasing a 6.29% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.59 billion, up 13.14% from the year-ago period.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $37.06 per share and a revenue of $13.52 billion, indicating changes of +11.36% and +11.19%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for KLA. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Therefore, positive revisions in estimates convey analysts' confidence in the business performance and profit potential.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. KLA currently has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
From a valuation perspective, KLA is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 57.5. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 29.16, so one might conclude that KLA is trading at a premium comparatively.
We can additionally observe that KLAC currently boasts a PEG ratio of 3.16. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.66 at yesterday's closing price.
The Electronics - Miscellaneous Products industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 64, putting it in the top 27% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).