Quarterly earnings results are a good time to check in on a company’s progress, especially compared to its peers in the same sector. Today we are looking at Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) and the best and worst performers in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.

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. Valuation multiples for many growth stocks have not yet reverted to their early 2021 highs, though the market was optimistic at the end of 2023 due to cooling inflation. The start of 2024 has been a different story as mixed signals have led to market volatility, and while some of the semiconductor manufacturing stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they collectively declined, with share prices falling 2.7% on average since the previous earnings results.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER)

Sporting most major chip manufacturers as its customers, Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) is a US-based supplier of automated test equipment for semiconductors as well as other technologies and devices.

Teradyne reported revenues of $670.6 million, down 8.4% year on year, falling short of analyst expectations by 0.9%. It was a weaker quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter and a miss of analysts' revenue estimates.

"We closed out 2023 with Q4 revenue and profit in line with our guidance as strong demand for memory test systems and 50% quarterly growth of Robotics revenue offset weakening demand for System-on-a-Chip (SOC) test systems," said Teradyne CEO Greg Smith.

The stock is down 9.1% since the results and currently trades at $95.01.

Is now the time to buy Teradyne? Access our full analysis of the earnings results 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 1.5% since the results and currently trades at $159.92.

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 down 10.7% since the results and currently trades at $44.9.

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

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT)

Founded in 1967 as the first company to develop tools for other businesses in the semiconductor industry, Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) is the largest provider of semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment.

Applied Materials reported revenues of $6.71 billion, down 0.5% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 3.4%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts' EPS estimates and a decent beat of analysts' revenue estimates.

The stock is up 1% since the results and currently trades at $189.5.

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

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Formed by the 1997 merger of the two leading semiconductor yield management companies, KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) is the leading supplier of equipment used to measure and inspect semiconductor chips.

KLA Corporation reported revenues of $2.49 billion, down 16.7% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 1.1%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.

The stock is down 2.4% since the results and currently trades at $626.39.

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

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