The end of an earnings season can be a great time to discover new stocks and assess how companies are handling the current business environment. Let’s take a look at how Kulicke and Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) and the rest of the semiconductor manufacturing stocks fared in Q1.

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 strong Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.2% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 5.5% above.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 2.4% on average since the latest earnings results.

Best Q1: 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 $242.6 million, up 49.8% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 5.5%. Overall, it was a stunning quarter for the company with a beat of analysts’ EPS and operating income estimates.

Lester Wong, Kulicke & Soffa's Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, stated, "Demand is stronger than anticipated due to both technology and capacity needs across general semiconductor, memory, automotive and industrial end markets. In addition to helping customers reach their production goals, we are also ramping near-term capital investment to support longer-term Advanced Solutions growth."

Kulicke and Soffa pulled off the highest guidance raise of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 20.9% since reporting and currently trades at $113.42.

Is now the time to buy Kulicke and Soffa? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC)

A public company since the late 1960s, Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC) is a provider of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors used for Internet of Things systems and cloud connectivity.

Semtech reported revenues of $291 million, up 15.9% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. The business had a strong quarter with a significant improvement in its inventory levels and revenue guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 18.4% since reporting. It currently trades at $134.26.

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

Weakest Q1: 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 $209.9 million, flat year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.8%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations and a significant miss of analysts’ operating income estimates.

Photronics delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, weakest guidance update, and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 44.1% since the results and currently trades at $29.91.

Read our full analysis of Photronics’s results here.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ: IPGP)

Both a designer and manufacturer of its products, IPG Photonics (NASDAQ: IPGP) is a provider of high-performance fiber lasers used for cutting, welding, and processing raw materials.

IPG Photonics reported revenues of $265.5 million, up 16.6% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 3.4%. More broadly, it was a mixed quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ operating income estimates but a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is down 13.1% since reporting and currently trades at $106.28.

Read our full, actionable report on IPG Photonics 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 $3.42 billion, up 11.5% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also recorded a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is up 27.5% since reporting and currently trades at $231.56.

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

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