By 
Shares of KLA Corp. slid in after-hours trading Thursday after the semiconductor-equipment maker forecast third-quarter profit and sales that came in below expectations, amid fading chip demand.
The company — whose equipment helps make the silicon plates that become chips, as well as other chip components — said it expected adjusted earnings per share to come in between $4.52 and $5.92 for its fiscal third quarter, with sales landing somewhere between $2.2 billion and $2.5 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of $5.90 per share, on revenue of $2.53 billion.
KLA shares
KLAC,
+1.45%
sank 3.7% after hours.
For its fiscal second quarter, KLA reported net income of $979 million, or $6.89 a share, compared with $717 million, or $4.71 a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose to $2.98 billion, compared with $2.35 billion in the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted for acquisition-related charges and tax items, KLA earned $7.38 a share, compared with $5.59 in the same quarter last year.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected KLA to report adjusted earnings per share of $7.10, on revenue of $2.82 billion for the second quarter.
KLA reported the results after Lam Research Corp.
LRCX,
+1.91%,
which also makes gear that helps make semiconductors, said this week that it would cut its workforce by 7%, amid a fall-off in memory-chip demand. That slowdown has run in tandem with a drop in demand for electronics, in the wake of the digital boom that occurred during the first two years of the pandemic.
KLA Corp. shares have climbed 12% over the past 12 months. By comparison, the S&P 500 Index
SPX,
+1.10%
has fallen 7% over that time.
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