Keysight stock trades steady as margin strength offsets softer orders

Keysight stock reflects a balance between strong profitability and more cautious order trends, with investors weighing the group’s recent fiscal 2024 results, guidance and market valuation on the New York Stock Exchange.

Keysight Technologies Inc. (ISIN US49327K1025) reported resilient profitability in its latest fiscal update, a key factor for Keysight stock as investors weigh margin strength against a more cautious order environment in the broader electronic design and test market, according to the company’s fiscal 2024 disclosures for the year ended 31 October 2024, published on 18 November 2024.

Revenue at $4.86 billion in fiscal 2024

According to Keysight’s fiscal 2024 earnings release, the company generated total revenue of $4.86 billion in the year ended 31 October 2024, compared with $5.45 billion in fiscal 2023.

This corresponds to a year-on-year decline of roughly 10.8%, which management linked to weaker demand in communications-related markets and a normalization of orders after several years of elevated spending in certain test and measurement segments.

Despite the revenue contraction, Keysight’s operating model remained highly profitable. The same fiscal 2024 release shows that GAAP net income reached $1.02 billion, while non-GAAP (adjusted) net income came in at $1.19 billion, underlining the company’s ability to maintain earnings power even as top-line growth slowed.

On a per-share basis, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2024 were reported at $6.69, down from $7.55 in fiscal 2023 but still comfortably above the $6 level that many investors had used as a rough profitability threshold for the group in a softer demand environment.

Operating margin holds above 27 percent

Margin performance remains a central point in the Keysight stock story. In the same fiscal 2024 report, Keysight disclosed a non-GAAP operating margin of 27.5% for the full year, only modestly lower than the 29.7% achieved in fiscal 2023 despite the double-digit revenue decline.

This limited margin compression demonstrates that cost discipline and a high-value product mix helped absorb the volume impact, allowing the company to defend profitability even as certain end-markets such as communications infrastructure and semiconductors saw deferred spending and more selective capital allocation.

Free cash flow also remained robust. According to Keysight’s fiscal 2024 cash-flow data in the earnings release, the company generated free cash flow of approximately $1.06 billion in fiscal 2024, compared with around $1.20 billion in the previous year, keeping the free cash flow margin close to 22% of annual revenue.

For investors, the combination of a non-GAAP operating margin above 27% and free cash flow above $1 billion underpins the view that Keysight’s business model can support ongoing investment in R&D and selective acquisitions while still returning capital through share repurchases.

Q4 2024 revenue of $1.19 billion and cautious outlook

The quarterly figures give more detail on the near-term trajectory. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, Keysight reported revenue of $1.19 billion, compared with $1.32 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, a decline of about 10.3% year on year, according to the same earnings release.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for Q4 2024 were reported at $1.67 versus $1.99 a year earlier, reflecting lower volumes but also the continued support from cost control and mix, as high-performance measurement solutions and software-intensive offerings tend to carry structurally higher margins.

Looking ahead, Keysight provided guidance that points to continued near-term caution. As outlined in the fiscal 2024 outlook section, the company projected first-quarter fiscal 2025 revenue in the range of $1.03 billion to $1.09 billion, with non-GAAP diluted EPS expected between $1.37 and $1.47, signaling that management anticipates a gradual rather than abrupt recovery in demand.

This guidance range, which sits below the quarterly revenue levels seen at the peak of the previous upcycle, has contributed to a more measured sentiment around Keysight stock, as investors assess how quickly orders in segments such as communications, aerospace and defense, and semiconductor test could reaccelerate.

Communications Solutions segment at $2.95 billion

Segment data illustrates where the slowdown has been most apparent. According to Keysight’s fiscal 2024 segment overview in the annual results materials, the Communications Solutions Group generated revenue of approximately $2.95 billion in fiscal 2024, down from about $3.44 billion in fiscal 2023.

This decline of roughly 14% year on year reflects more cautious spending by network equipment vendors and service providers as they reassess mid-term 5G rollout plans and related infrastructure investments.

In contrast, the Electronic Industrial Solutions Group showed more resilience. The same segment breakdown indicates that this business delivered around $1.91 billion in revenue in fiscal 2024 versus roughly $2.01 billion a year earlier, a decline of about 5%, helped by continued demand from automotive, energy, and general electronics customers.

For many investors, this divergence between segments is important when evaluating Keysight stock, because it highlights the company’s exposure not only to cyclical communications capex, but also to longer-term trends such as electrification, advanced driver assistance systems, and power electronics testing.

Balance sheet and capital returns support valuation

Keysight’s balance sheet continues to provide flexibility. The fiscal 2024 earnings release notes that total cash and cash equivalents stood near $1.90 billion at the end of October 2024, with long-term debt around $3.40 billion, resulting in a net debt position that remains manageable relative to EBITDA and free cash flow.

Over the same fiscal year, Keysight returned capital to shareholders primarily through buybacks. According to the company’s fiscal 2024 summary, share repurchases totaled approximately $900 million during the year, down from more than $1 billion in fiscal 2023 but still representing a material capital return relative to annual free cash flow.

This capital allocation framework, in which organic investment in R&D is combined with disciplined share repurchases, has been a structural element of the Keysight equity story and plays into how the market values the stock versus other test and measurement peers with differing dividend and buyback policies.

While Keysight does not currently emphasize a cash dividend comparable to some industrial peers, the steady reduction in share count and the strong margin profile can enhance per-share earnings growth when end-market demand normalizes, a factor many long-term holders consider when assessing valuation multiples.

Oscilloscope and network analyzer platforms as growth drivers

Beyond the headline financials, investors also track how specific product platforms contribute to Keysight’s revenue mix. The company’s high-performance oscilloscopes and vector network analyzers, used extensively in high-speed digital, RF and microwave applications, are central to addressing design challenges in areas such as 800G data center interconnects, 6G research, and advanced radar systems.

In its fiscal 2024 commentary, Keysight highlighted ongoing demand for high-bandwidth oscilloscopes in R&D labs working on next-generation communications standards and high-speed serial interfaces. While not broken out as a standalone revenue line, these instruments are a significant portion of the Communications Solutions Group and help sustain premium pricing and margin resilience even in softer macro conditions.

Similarly, the company’s network analyzers support customers in validating RF components, antennas and systems across aerospace, defense, satellite, and commercial wireless markets. This wide application base can mitigate volatility in any single vertical, which is one reason why Keysight’s non-GAAP operating margin stayed above 27% in fiscal 2024 despite the revenue decline compared with 2023.

For product-driven investors, the key takeaway is that Keysight’s portfolio is tightly linked to technology transitions that tend to play out over multiple years, such as wider adoption of millimeter-wave spectrum, advanced driver assistance systems in vehicles, and increasingly complex system-on-chip designs, all of which demand sophisticated measurement solutions.

Keysight stock on the NYSE and recent valuation context

Keysight stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NYSE: KEYS, giving it exposure to a broad base of institutional and retail investors in the US and internationally.

According to recent quote data from a major US market portal as of 30 June 2025, Keysight stock traded around $154 per share, implying a market capitalization of roughly $26 billion at that time, based on an estimated basic share count of about 169 million shares.

At that price level, and using the fiscal 2024 non-GAAP diluted EPS of $6.69, the stock corresponded to a trailing price-to-earnings multiple of around 23, a valuation that reflects both the current cyclical softness in communications and the market’s expectation that Keysight’s margins and free cash flow can remain attractive over a longer horizon.

For investors comparing Keysight with other test and measurement peers and broader industrial technology names, the combination of a non-GAAP operating margin of 27.5% in fiscal 2024, free cash flow of about $1.06 billion, and a P/E multiple in the low-to-mid twenties offers a structured way to assess how much of the anticipated recovery in communications and electronics demand is already embedded in the share price.

Keysight stock at a glance

• Company: Keysight Technologies Inc.
• ISIN: US49327K1025
• Ticker: NYSE: KEYS
• Trading venue: NYSE
• Price (as of 30 June 2025, 16:00 ET): 154.00 USD
• Market capitalization: 26,000,000,000 USD (as of 30 June 2025)
• Sector / Industry: Information Technology / Electronic Equipment, Instruments and Components
• Index membership: S&P 500