KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• KLA Corporation has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy”, with 20 buy ratings and 10 hold ratings from 30 research firms. The average 1-year price target is about $277.34.
• Several brokerages recently turned more constructive on the stock, including Bank of America raising its target to $317 and reaffirming a buy rating. Other firms such as Morgan Stanley and Oppenheimer also maintained bullish views, while DBS Bank upgraded KLA to moderate buy.
• Investor sentiment is being supported by AI-driven semiconductor spending, KLA’s upbeat outlook for wafer fab equipment demand, and a $7 billion share buyback authorization. The company also beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting strong revenue and profit growth.

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $277.3357.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of KLA from $210.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. New Street Research upped their target price on shares of KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised KLA from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Investor chatter remains focused on stronger AI-driven semiconductor spending, with KLA viewed as a key beneficiary of rising wafer-fab capacity, new fab projects, and improved equipment-cycle expectations. KLA Corporation Stock (KLAC) Opinions on AI-Driven Semiconductor Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s recent upbeat outlook on wafer fab equipment demand and its large $7 billion buyback authorization continue to support bullish sentiment. Why KLA shares rose today
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive, with multiple firms reiterating buy-equivalent ratings and several raising price targets on expectations for continued AI infrastructure spending and semiconductor capital investment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual call-option activity suggests traders are positioning for more upside, but options flow alone is not a clear fundamental catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: KLAC has been dragged lower as semiconductor peers fell broadly, and the Nasdaq-100 also softened on weakness in chip names such as Micron, AMD, Applied Materials, and Lam Research. QQQ is down 0.9% today, on KLAC stock price movement
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling by CEO Richard Wallace may add a small headwind to sentiment, though it does not change the longer-term demand story.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $266.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $347.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 1.40. KLA has a twelve month low of $83.22 and a twelve month high of $307.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $209.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.42. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 91.89%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total value of $9,986,725.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $119,618,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in KLA by 151.2% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $171,230,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,812,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in KLA by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 91,413 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $111,910,000 after purchasing an additional 21,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA increased its position in KLA by 521.1% during the 4th quarter. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA now owns 18,719 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $22,741,000 after purchasing an additional 15,705 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Company Profile

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA's offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.

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