KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on KLA to $2,100 (from $1,900) and kept an "overweight" rating, implying roughly a 20.7% upside from the prior close.
• KLA beat Q3 estimates with EPS $9.40 and $3.42B revenue, set Q4 FY2026 guidance of $8.87–$10.87 EPS, and the board authorized a $7B buyback while lifting the dividend, bolstering cash-return support.
• Despite the results and capital returns, shares fell about 4.2% to $1,740.25 amid profit‑taking and concern over a rich valuation (around 50x P/E), increasing short‑term downside risk.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $1,900.00 to $2,100.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential upside of 20.67% from the stock's previous close.

KLAC has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $2,000.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Dbs Bank raised shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,630.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,750.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,679.11.

KLA Trading Down 4.2%

KLA stock traded down $75.96 during trading on Thursday, hitting $1,740.25. The company had a trading volume of 626,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,061,104. KLA has a 1-year low of $674.76 and a 1-year high of $1,939.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $1,580.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,388.79. The stock has a market cap of $228.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.44.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.16 by $0.24. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.41 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA will post 36.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 125.0% during the third quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $43,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat: KLA posted non‑GAAP EPS of $9.40 vs. consensus ~$9.16 and revenue of $3.42B, both above estimates — a fundamental beat that supports upside. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns raised: Board increased the quarterly dividend to $2.30 and authorized an additional $7B for share repurchases — a strong cash-return program that tends to support the share price. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Needham raised its price target to $2,000 and kept a Buy rating, signaling continued bullish analyst conviction and potentially attracting momentum buyers. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: AI-driven demand thesis: Multiple pieces (including Seeking Alpha coverage) emphasize KLA’s dominant position in process-control tools for AI chip production, supporting a longer-term growth narrative even if near-term moves are volatile. Seeking Alpha
• Neutral Sentiment: Guidance: KLA set Q4 FY2026 EPS guidance of $8.87–$10.87 and revenue guidance $3.4B–$3.8B. The ranges roughly bracket consensus but leave scope for upside or downside depending on which end the business falls toward; investors parsed the range for directional signals. Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed market reaction / shares slipping: Several outlets flagged that KLA shares fell after the print — likely driven by investor profit‑taking after a strong run, the guidance range’s breadth, and the stock’s elevated valuation (~50x forward P/E) which raises sensitivity to any hint of slowing growth. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and expectations: With a high P/E and large recent gains (52‑week high near $1,939), some investors may be trimming exposure rather than adding, making the stock more vulnerable to short‑term declines despite solid results. Globe and Mail

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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