KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Announces Earnings Results

Key Points

• KLA beat expectations with $9.40 EPS (consensus $9.16) and revenue of $3.42 billion (consensus $3.37B), and updated its Q4 2026 guidance to 8.870–10.870 EPS.
• The board authorized a $7.00 billion share buyback (about 3.7% of outstanding shares) and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.90 ($7.60 annualized, ~0.4% yield).
• Shares rose to about $1,816.21 on the report as several analysts raised price targets; the consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $1,624.07 (some targets up to $2,000).

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.16 by $0.24, FiscalAI reports. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. KLA updated its Q4 2026 guidance to 8.870-10.870 EPS.

KLA Trading Up 0.4%

KLAC stock traded up $7.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $1,816.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,053,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,066,707. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $1,574.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,385.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. KLA has a 52 week low of $674.20 and a 52 week high of $1,939.36. The stock has a market cap of $238.07 billion, a PE ratio of 52.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.44.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Evercore raised their target price on KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,550.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. New Street Research boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,230.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of KLA from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of KLA from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,624.07.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in KLA by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 91,413 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $111,910,000 after buying an additional 21,850 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of KLA by 237.8% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 17,055 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $20,723,000 after buying an additional 12,006 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in shares of KLA by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 2,601 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,160,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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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