On the morning of July 25th, Ke Lei, a leading global semiconductor equipment manufacturer, disclosed its financial report for the fourth quarter of 2024 (i.e. the second quarter of 2024). In this quarter, Ke Lei's revenue was $2.569 billion, at the upper limit of the guidance range.
During the quarter, GAAP (General Accounting Principles) diluted earnings per share attributable to Ke Lei were $6.18, and non GAAP diluted earnings per share attributable to Ke Lei were $6.60, both above the midpoint of their respective guidance ranges. The cash flows generated from operating activities for the quarter and fiscal year were $892.6 million and $3.31 billion, respectively, with free cash flows of $831.9 million and $3.03 billion, respectively.
According to its letter to shareholders, Ke Lei's semiconductor process control department's revenue for the fourth quarter was $2.3 billion, an increase of 10% compared to the previous quarter and a year-on-year increase of 10%. In this quarter, the proportion of wafer foundry and logic customers was 82%; The proportion of storage customers is 18%, of which DRAM (memory) accounts for 78% of storage.
The revenue of the Special Semiconductor Process Department was $121 million, a year-on-year decrease of 6% and a month on month decrease of 7%; The revenue from PCB (printed circuit board) and component testing was $140 million, a year-on-year increase of 9% and a month on month increase of 5%.
In the fourth fiscal quarter, the region with the highest proportion of Kelei's revenue was China (the mainland and Taiwan accounted for 64% in total), while North America, Japan, South Korea, Europe and other regions in Asia accounted for 12%, 7%, 7%, 5% and 5% respectively.
Rick Wallace, President and CEO of KLA, said, "Koley's quarterly performance exceeded expectations, including revenue, gross profit margin, and earnings per share, all of which were above their respective guidance midpoints, demonstrating the enduring strength and differentiation of Koley's products. We are encouraged by early signs of a continuously strengthening market environment for our leading customers and have increasing confidence in our plans for steady improvement in the remaining time of this calendar year and 2025
Regarding the performance guidance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, Ke Lei expects total revenue to be in the range of $2.6 billion to $2.9 billion, and GAAP gross profit margin is expected to be in the range of 58.9% to 60.9%.