(Reuters) – Chipmaking equipment supplier KLA Corp forecast second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, betting on growing demand for chips to support artificial intelligence workloads.
Shares of the Milpitas, California-based company rose 2.1% in after-hours trading.
New orders for chipmaking equipment are expected to grow as chip bellwether firm Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Samsung Electronics, among others, are investing heavily in AI chips.
TSMC, which accounted for over 10% of KLA’s total revenue in the fiscal year 2024, recently raised its annual revenue growth expectations and said AI chips would account for a mid-teen percentage of its full-year revenue.
“While some customers are facing near-term challenges, we are optimistic about continued semiconductor market growth in the fourth calendar quarter of 2024 and into calendar 2025,” CEO Rick Wallace said in a statement.
KLA forecast revenue to be in a range of $2.95 billion plus or minus $150 million, in the second quarter ending in December, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.86 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company expects adjusted profit per share between $7.75 plus or minus 60 cents in the second quarter, compared with estimates of $7.41 per share.
KLA posted first-quarter revenue of $2.84 billion, beating estimates of $2.76 billion. Excluding items, profit came in at$7.33 per share, beating estimates of $7.05 per share.
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)
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