Looking back on semiconductor manufacturing stocks' Q4 earnings, we examine this quarter's best and worst performers, including Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) and its peers.

The semiconductor industry is driven by demand for advanced electronic products like smartphones, PCs, servers, and data storage. The need for technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G networks, and smart cars is also creating the next wave of growth for the industry. Keeping up with this dynamism requires new tools that can design, fabricate, and test chips at ever smaller sizes and more complex architectures, creating a dire need for semiconductor capital manufacturing equipment.

The 14 semiconductor manufacturing stocks we track reported a mixed Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 2.4% while next quarter's revenue guidance was 5.6% below consensus. Stocks have faced challenges as investors prioritize near-term cash flows, but semiconductor manufacturing stocks held their ground better than others, with the share prices up 9.2% on average since the previous earnings results.

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL)

Moving away from a low margin storage device management chips in one of the biggest semiconductor business model pivots of the past decade, Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a fabless designer of special purpose data processing and networking chips used by data centers, communications carriers, enterprises, and autos.

Marvell Technology reported revenues of $1.43 billion, flat year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and a miss of analysts' EPS estimates.

"Marvell delivered fourth quarter fiscal 2024 revenue of $1.427 billion, above the mid-point of guidance. AI drove strong growth in our data center end market revenue which increased 38% sequentially and 54% year-over-year. As a critical enabler of accelerated infrastructure for AI, Marvell is well positioned to capitalize on this massive technology inflection, which continues to gain momentum," said Matt Murphy, Marvell's Chairman and CEO.

The stock is down 13.4% since the results and currently trades at $73.52.

Read our full report on Marvell Technology here, it's free.

Best Q4: Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI)

Headquartered in Israel, Nova (NASDAQ: NVMI) is a provider of quality control systems used in semiconductor manufacturing.

Nova reported revenues of $134.2 million, down 11.3% year on year, outperforming analyst expectations by 4.8%. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' EPS estimates and a significant improvement in its inventory levels.

The stock is up 13.1% since the results and currently trades at $178.1.

Is now the time to buy Nova? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Weakest Q4: Kulicke and Soffa (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Headquartered in Singapore, Kulicke & Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) is a provider of production equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices

Kulicke and Soffa reported revenues of $171.2 million, down 2.9% year on year, falling short of analyst expectations by 0.5%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and a decline in its operating margin.

The stock is up 0.4% since the results and currently trades at $50.47.

Read our full analysis of Kulicke and Soffa's results here.

Amkor (NASDAQ:AMKR)

Operating through a largely Asian facility footprint, Amkor Technologies (NASDAQ:AMKR) provides outsourced packaging and testing for semiconductors.

Amkor reported revenues of $1.75 billion, down 8.1% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 2.1%. It was a slower quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.

The stock is down 1.5% since the results and currently trades at $31.81.

Read our full, actionable report on Amkor here, it's free.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Sporting a global footprint of facilities, Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) is a manufacturer of photomasks, templates used to transfer patterns onto semiconductor wafers.

Photronics reported revenues of $216.3 million, up 2.5% year on year, falling short of analyst expectations by 1.7%. It was a weak quarter for the company, with a miss of analysts' revenue and EPS estimates.

Photronics had the weakest performance against analyst estimates among its peers. The stock is down 7.9% since the results and currently trades at $28.78.

Read our full, actionable report on Photronics here, it's free.

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