KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham reiterated its Buy rating on KLA and set a $270 price target, implying 41.51% upside from the prior close. The broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with an average target of $223.75.
• KLA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.05 versus $1.00 expected and revenue of $3.66 billion, up 15.2% year over year. Management forecast first-quarter EPS of $1.06–$1.26 and cited sustained AI infrastructure investment as a demand driver.
• KLA shares opened at $190.80 after declining 6.2%, while insiders sold approximately $29.5 million of stock over the past three months; institutional investors own 86.65% of the company.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $270.00 target price on the semiconductor company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price would suggest a potential upside of 41.51% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on KLAC. Citic Securities lifted their target price on KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank set a $200.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of KLA from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $223.75.

KLA Trading Down 6.2%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $190.80 on Wednesday. KLA has a 12-month low of $83.22 and a 12-month high of $307.37. The company has a market capitalization of $249.24 billion, a PE ratio of 54.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $224.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that KLA will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 132,333 shares of company stock worth $29,547,170 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in KLA by 978.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $259,164,000 after buying an additional 779,317 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in KLA by 781.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $108,397,000 after acquiring an additional 318,520 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 0.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $265,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $117,676,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

More KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA reported fiscal fourth-quarter non-GAAP EPS of $1.05, above the $1.00 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 15.2% year over year to approximately $3.66 billion, also exceeding the $3.61 billion consensus. KLA quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management forecast fiscal first-quarter revenue of $3.8 billion to $4.2 billion and EPS of $1.06 to $1.26, with the revenue range above expectations and the EPS midpoint modestly ahead of the $1.13 consensus. KLA cited sustained AI infrastructure investment as a key demand driver. Reuters KLA outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Cash generation remained strong: operating cash flow was $906.4 million in the quarter and $4.14 billion for fiscal 2026, while the company returned $876.3 million to shareholders during the quarter. KLA fiscal 2026 results

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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