In This Article:
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Revenue: $3.08 billion for the December quarter, above the guidance midpoint of $2.95 billion.
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Annual Revenue: $10.85 billion for calendar 2024, a 12% increase.
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Process Control Revenue: Grew by over 12% in 2024.
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Services Business Revenue: $667 million in the December quarter, up 4% sequentially and 18% year over year.
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Gross Margin: 61.7% for the December quarter.
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Operating Margin: 42.3% for the December quarter.
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Net Income: $1.1 billion for the December quarter.
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Free Cash Flow: $757 million for the December quarter.
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Cash Flow from Operations: $850 million for the December quarter.
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Total Cash and Equivalents: $3.8 billion at the end of the December quarter.
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Debt: $5.9 billion at the end of the December quarter.
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Capital Return: $877 million in the December quarter, including $650 million in share repurchases and $227 million in dividends.
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Non-GAAP Diluted EPS: $8.20 for the December quarter.
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GAAP Diluted EPS: $6.16 for the December quarter.
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Operating Expenses: $596 million for the December quarter, with $342 million in R&D and $254 million in SG&A.
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Effective Tax Rate: 13.7% for the December quarter.
Release Date: January 30, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
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KLA Corp (NASDAQ:KLAC) achieved a record revenue of $10.85 billion in 2024, marking a 12% growth year-over-year.
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The company maintained industry-leading gross and operating margins at 61% and 41%, respectively.
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KLA Corp's Services business grew 15% to $2.5 billion for the year, marking 50 consecutive quarters of growth.
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Advanced Packaging revenue is expected to exceed $800 million in 2025, up from $500 million in 2024.
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KLA Corp returned $2.9 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in 2024.
Negative Points
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KLA Corp faces a potential $500 million revenue impact in 2025 due to new US government export controls affecting China.
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The company's China revenue is expected to decline by approximately 20% in 2025.
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There is uncertainty regarding the processing of export licenses by the US government, which could affect revenue.
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Operating expenses are expected to increase by approximately $15 million per quarter in 2025.
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The effective tax rate is expected to rise slightly to approximately 14% in the second half of 2025 due to global taxation changes.
Q & A Highlights
Q: What is the outlook for the process control market in 2025, and how does KLA's share compare? A: Bren Higgins, CFO, stated that KLA expects the process control market to grow solidly in 2025, driven by increased investment in leading-edge technologies. KLA's share of the WFE market is expected to increase due to higher process control intensity, particularly in advanced DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, as well as growth in advanced packaging.