Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The semiconductor company reported $2.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $287.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $282.23 million. Nova had a net margin of 29.87% and a return on equity of 22.61%. The firm’s revenue was up 28.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. Nova updated its Q4 2026 guidance to 3.030-3.180 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Nova’s conference call:

• Nova reported a third consecutive record quarter, with Q3 revenue of $287.8 million, up 28% year over year and above guidance. Non-GAAP operating margin was 35.5%, above the company’s target range, and non-GAAP EPS of $2.86 exceeded the high end of guidance.
• Management forecast Q4 revenue of $305 million to $315 million and expects 2026 revenue to exceed $1 billion, a year ahead of its strategic-plan milestone. It also raised its outlook for second-half 2026 growth to more than 33% year over year and cited momentum carrying into 2027.
• Memory and advanced packaging were record contributors, supported by DRAM demand, capacity expansion, and broader adoption of Nova’s metrology products. Management also pointed to favorable 2027 drivers, including gate-all-around investment, advanced DRAM nodes, and HBM-related applications.
• Nova generated $132 million in Q3 free cash flow and ended the quarter with $1.8 billion in cash, equivalents, and marketable securities. It repurchased approximately $38.5 million of shares during the quarter.
• Management said the industry ramp is stretching the supply chain and requires active mitigation, though it is working with suppliers and expanding manufacturing capacity. It also expects new competition in XPS materials metrology to emerge around the second half of 2027.

Nova Price Performance

NASDAQ NVMI traded up $32.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $313.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 463,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,051. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $346.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.27. Nova has a 52 week low of $266.43 and a 52 week high of $615.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.85.

Nova declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, September 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $200 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on NVMI shares. Citigroup lowered shares of Nova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $550.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Evercore set a $475.00 price target on shares of Nova in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Nova from $600.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nova in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nova has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $470.00.

Key Stories Impacting Nova

Here are the key news stories impacting Nova this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 revenue reached a record $287.8 million, up 28.2% year over year, while adjusted EPS of $2.86 topped the roughly $2.77 consensus. Nova reports record third-quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Nova forecast Q4 revenue of $305 million–$315 million and EPS of $3.03–$3.18, with the EPS range just above analyst expectations. Management also pointed to strong memory and packaging demand and visibility into 2027 growth. Nova Q4 outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, one post-results report said the stock dropped, suggesting strong expectations may have limited the market’s initial response. Nova Q3 results and stock reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reduced its price target to $500 from $600, and Needham cut its target to $420 from $570. Both firms kept positive ratings—Overweight and Buy, respectively—but the lower targets could weigh on sentiment. Barclays rating

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nova news, insider Shay Wolfing sold 3,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.28, for a total value of $1,403,713.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 21,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,777,461.52. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Gabriel Waisman sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.27, for a total transaction of $513,405.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 27,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,314,535.78. This trade represents a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Nova

Nova Ltd. (NASDAQ: NVMI) develops and supplies metrology and process-control solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Its systems help chipmakers measure and control critical dimensions, film thickness, material properties and other characteristics during the production of integrated circuits.

The company’s product portfolio includes optical and X-ray metrology systems, chemical metrology solutions, and related software and analytics tools. These technologies are used in multiple stages of semiconductor fabrication, including front-end wafer processing and advanced packaging, to support process development, yield improvement and manufacturing control.

Founded in 1993, Nova is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, and serves semiconductor manufacturers and other industry customers through operations and support activities across North America, Europe and Asia.