This past week, the top five pure-play semiconductor metrology/inspection equipment companies reported earnings in their quarterly calls- KLA (KLAC), Rudolph Technologies (RTEC), Nova Measuring (NVMI), Nanometrics (NANO), and Hitachi High Technologies (HICTF). Table 1 list the results for four of these companies. I also note stock activity on 5/7/19, the day after all companies announced earnings, to illustrate how inconsistent market response is to financials. Incidentally, the Dow dropped 473 points and NASDAQ dropped 160 points on that date.
This article details the performance of these semiconductor