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Investing in KLA (KLAC)? Don't Miss Assessing Its International Revenue Trends

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Have you looked into how KLA (KLAC - Free Report) performed internationally during the quarter ending March 2024? Considering the widespread global presence of this maker of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, examining the trends in international revenues is essential for assessing its financial resilience and prospects for growth.

In today's increasingly interconnected global economy, a company's ability to tap into international markets can be a pivotal factor in shaping its overall financial health and growth trajectory. For investors, understanding a company's reliance on overseas markets has become increasingly crucial, as it offers insights into the company's sustainability of earnings, ability to tap into diverse economic cycles and overall growth potential.

Being present in foreign markets serves as protection against local economic declines and helps benefit from more rapidly expanding economies. Yet, such expansion also introduces challenges related to currency fluctuations, geopolitical uncertainties and varied market behaviors.

In our recent assessment of KLAC's quarterly performance, we discovered notable trends in its overseas revenue sections, which are typically modeled and scrutinized by Wall Street analysts.

The company's total revenue for the quarter amounted to $2.36 billion, showing decrease of 3%. We will now explore the breakdown of KLAC's overseas revenue to assess the impact of its international operations.

Trends in KLAC's Revenue from International Markets

Korea generated $201.29 million in revenues for the company in the last quarter, constituting 8.5% of the total. This represented a surprise of -41.66% compared to the $345 million projected by Wall Street analysts. Comparatively, in the previous quarter, Korea accounted for $310.67 million (12.5%), and in the year-ago quarter, it contributed $468.23 million (19.3%) to the total revenue.

Of the total revenue, $129.35 million came from Europe & Israel during the last fiscal quarter, accounting for 5.5%. This represented a surprise of +12.48% as analysts had expected the region to contribute $115 million to the total revenue. In comparison, the region contributed $123.36 million, or 5%, and $209.14 million, or 8.6%, to total revenue in the previous and year-ago quarters, respectively.

During the quarter, Taiwan contributed $433.92 million in revenue, making up 18.4% of the total revenue. When compared to the consensus estimate of $805 million, this meant a surprise of -46.1%. Looking back, Taiwan contributed $375.26 million, or 15.1%, in the previous quarter, and $478.86 million, or 19.7%, in the same quarter of the previous year.

Japan accounted for 11.3% of the company's total revenue during the quarter, translating to $267.05 million. Revenues from this region represented a surprise of -22.6%, with Wall Street analysts collectively expecting $345 million. When compared to the preceding quarter and the same quarter in the previous year, Japan contributed $297.76 million (12%) and $215.53 million (8.9%) to the total revenue, respectively.

China generated $996.89 million in revenues for the company in the last quarter, constituting 42.2% of the total. This represented a surprise of +188.95% compared to the $345 million projected by Wall Street analysts. Comparatively, in the previous quarter, China accounted for $1.03 billion (41.3%), and in the year-ago quarter, it contributed $635.02 million (26.1%) to the total revenue.

International Revenue Predictions

Wall Street analysts expect KLA to report a total revenue of $2.5 billion in the current fiscal quarter, which suggests an increase of 6.3% from the prior-year quarter. Revenue shares from Korea, Europe & Israel, Taiwan, Japan and China are predicted to be 14.4%, 4.8%, 33.7%, 14.4% and 14.4%, corresponding to amounts of $361.5 million, $120.5 million, $843.5 million, $361.5 million and $361.5 million, respectively.

For the full year, the company is projected to achieve a total revenue of $9.64 billion, which signifies a fall of 8.2% from the last year. The share of this revenue from various regions is expected to be: Korea at 12.7% ($1.22 billion), Europe & Israel at 5.5% ($527.62 million), Taiwan at 25.2% ($2.43 billion), Japan at 12.9% ($1.24 billion) and China at 28.6% ($2.76 billion).

Closing Remarks

Relying on global markets for revenues presents both prospects and challenges for KLA. Therefore, scrutinizing its international revenue trends is key to effectively forecasting the company's future outlook.

In an era of growing international interdependencies and escalating geopolitical disputes, Wall Street analysts are vigilant in tracking these trends for businesses with a global reach, in order to refine their predictions of earnings. It should be noted, however, that a multitude of other elements, such as a company's domestic position, also play a significant role in shaping the earnings forecasts.

Here at Zacks, we put a great deal of emphasis on a company's changing earnings outlook, as empirical research has shown that's a powerful force driving a stock's near-term price performance. Quite naturally, the correlation is positive here -- an upward revision in earnings estimates drives the stock price higher.

The Zacks Rank, our proprietary stock rating mechanism, demonstrates a notable performance history confirmed through external audits. It effectively utilizes the power of earnings estimate revisions to act as a predictor of a stock's price performance in the near term.

At present, KLA holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). This ranking implies that its near-term performance might mirror the overall market movement. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Exploring Recent Trends in KLA's Stock Price

Over the preceding four weeks, the stock's value has appreciated by 0.4%, against a downturn of 2.5% in the Zacks S&P 500 composite. In parallel, the Zacks Computer and Technology sector, which counts KLA among its entities, has depreciated by 2.3%. Over the past three months, the company's shares have seen an increase of 16.1% versus the S&P 500's 4.2% increase. The sector overall has witnessed an increase of 2.6% over the same period.


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