KLA (KLAC) Competitors $750.74 -13.54 (-1.77%) Closing price 02/14/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$747.87 -2.87 (-0.38%) As of 02/14/2025 07:57 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrends KLAC vs. AMAT, LRCX, ENTG, ONTO, MKSI, AMKR, AEIS, FORM, ACLS, and UCTTShould you be buying KLA stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of KLA include Applied Materials (AMAT), Lam Research (LRCX), Entegris (ENTG), Onto Innovation (ONTO), MKS Instruments (MKSI), Amkor Technology (AMKR), Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS), FormFactor (FORM), Axcelis Technologies (ACLS), and Ultra Clean (UCTT). These companies are all part of the "semiconductor equipment" industry. KLA vs. Applied Materials Lam Research Entegris Onto Innovation MKS Instruments Amkor Technology Advanced Energy Industries FormFactor Axcelis Technologies Ultra Clean Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, community ranking, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, profitability, media sentiment and valuation. Which has more risk and volatility, AMAT or KLAC? Applied Materials has a beta of 1.53, indicating that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KLA has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its stock price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500. Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of AMAT or KLAC? 80.6% of Applied Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of KLA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Applied Materials shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of KLA shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Does the MarketBeat Community favor AMAT or KLAC? Applied Materials received 1121 more outperform votes than KLA when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.93% of users gave Applied Materials an outperform vote while only 62.19% of users gave KLA an outperform vote. CompanyUnderperformOutperformApplied MaterialsOutperform Votes192271.93% Underperform Votes75028.07% KLAOutperform Votes80162.19% Underperform Votes48737.81% Is AMAT or KLAC a better dividend stock? Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. KLA pays an annual dividend of $6.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Applied Materials pays out 20.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KLA pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. KLA has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Applied Materials is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Is AMAT or KLAC more profitable? KLA has a net margin of 29.58% compared to Applied Materials' net margin of 26.41%. KLA's return on equity of 108.60% beat Applied Materials' return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Applied Materials26.41% 39.26% 21.92% KLA 29.58%108.60%24.20% Does the media prefer AMAT or KLAC? In the previous week, Applied Materials had 38 more articles in the media than KLA. MarketBeat recorded 73 mentions for Applied Materials and 35 mentions for KLA. KLA's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Applied Materials' score of 1.03 indicating that KLA is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Applied Materials 37 Very Positive mention(s) 5 Positive mention(s) 16 Neutral mention(s) 10 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive KLA 27 Very Positive mention(s) 3 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 1 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Do analysts rate AMAT or KLAC? Applied Materials presently has a consensus price target of $216.10, suggesting a potential upside of 27.72%. KLA has a consensus price target of $831.68, suggesting a potential upside of 10.78%. Given Applied Materials' higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Applied Materials is more favorable than KLA.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Applied Materials 1 Sell rating(s) 6 Hold rating(s) 15 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.64KLA 0 Sell rating(s) 6 Hold rating(s) 13 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.68 Which has stronger earnings and valuation, AMAT or KLAC? Applied Materials has higher revenue and earnings than KLA. Applied Materials is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KLA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioApplied Materials$27.18B5.06$7.18B$7.6522.12KLA$9.81B10.17$2.76B$23.7831.57 SummaryApplied Materials beats KLA on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks. Get KLA News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for KLAC and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart KLAC vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricKLAOptical instruments & lenses IndustryComputer SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$99.77B$15.87B$26.87B$9.20BDividend Yield0.89%1.21%2.78%4.00%P/E Ratio31.5736.4841.7719.39Price / Sales10.175.962,789.5376.93Price / Cash26.1322.7936.8138.90Price / Book27.847.778.045.05Net Income$2.76B$354.80M$669.93M$222.82M7 Day Performance0.41%-0.47%2.23%1.47%1 Month Performance7.06%-2.85%6.64%4.42%1 Year Performance14.82%8.82%23.91%19.07% KLA Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)KLACKLA4.897 of 5 stars$750.74-1.8%$831.68+10.8%+14.8%$101.24B$9.81B31.5715,230Dividend AnnouncementShort Interest ↓Positive NewsAMATApplied Materials4.8951 of 5 stars$183.26+1.8%$218.71+19.3%-9.1%$148.92B$27.18B21.2835,700Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionNews CoverageGap DownLRCXLam Research4.8223 of 5 stars$83.44+1.4%$95.72+14.7%-9.6%$107.12B$14.91B25.3517,450Analyst RevisionPositive NewsENTGEntegris4.0402 of 5 stars$106.24-0.3%$130.60+22.9%-18.3%$16.04B$3.24B55.038,000Insider TradeAnalyst RevisionONTOOnto Innovation4.4277 of 5 stars$182.01-2.6%$251.25+38.0%+2.0%$8.99B$987.32M44.831,497Analyst DowngradeShort Interest ↑MKSIMKS Instruments4.975 of 5 stars$112.35+2.7%$141.75+26.2%-15.1%$7.57B$3.62B249.8810,200Earnings ReportDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastNews CoverageAMKRAmkor Technology4.9868 of 5 stars$24.44+0.5%$35.50+45.3%-26.3%$6.04B$6.50B16.5328,700Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastOptions VolumeAnalyst RevisionNews CoverageAEISAdvanced Energy Industries4.3706 of 5 stars$112.77+1.0%$126.89+12.5%+21.4%$4.25B$1.66B98.9010,000Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastShort Interest ↓News CoveragePositive NewsFORMFormFactor3.5133 of 5 stars$35.77-0.2%$48.50+35.6%-11.1%$2.78B$763.60M40.262,115ACLSAxcelis Technologies3.8361 of 5 stars$66.03+3.4%$154.00+133.2%-49.4%$2.15B$1.13B9.771,704Earnings ReportAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionUCTTUltra Clean4.6972 of 5 stars$38.81+3.9%$57.75+48.8%-12.8%$1.76B$1.98B486.967,184Positive News Related Companies and Tools Related Companies AMAT Competitors LRCX Competitors ENTG Competitors ONTO Competitors MKSI Competitors AMKR Competitors AEIS Competitors FORM Competitors ACLS Competitors UCTT Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Bank Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Toy Stocks Growth Stocks Airline Stocks Chinese Stocks EV Charging Stocks Defense Stocks Lithium Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks This page (NASDAQ:KLAC) was last updated on 2/15/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersCollect $7k per month from Tesla’s SECRET dividendTesla doesn't pay a traditional dividend.... But I just discovered a secret backdoor to collect a secret 69...Investors Alley | SponsoredNVDA Crash UpdateAn overseas AI rival sent shockwaves through the U.S. tech market last week... Leaving millions of investor...Chaikin Analytics | Sponsored$2 Trillion Disappears Because of Fed's Secretive New Move$2 trillion has disappeared from the US government's books. The reason why is a new, secretive move being c...Stansberry Research | SponsoredHas Trump finally met his match?Dylan Jovine predicted the 2008 crash over a year before it happened. Folks who listened to him had the chance...Behind the Markets | Sponsored Is Starlink Set For The Largest IPO In History?He turned PayPal from a tiny, off-the-radar startup… to a massive $64 billion giant. Then, he did it again ...Paradigm Press | SponsoredBuy this AI Stock Before Elon’s AnnouncementWith Trump back in office, xAI is primed to become the leader in generative AI, leaving competitors in the dus...InvestorPlace | SponsoredSecret financial plot unfolding in Washington DC… [DEVELOPING]What stocks are next up to soar in 2025? I believe I’ve found the answer - and it might surprise you. Yo...Timothy Sykes | SponsoredTop Picks for Trump’s Pro-Crypto America10,000% Crypto Opportunities in 2025 27 of the brightest minds in crypto share exclusive intel… Crypto 101 Media | Sponsored Adding Choose a watchlist: Watchlist Adding You have already added five stocks to your watchlist. Upgrade to MarketBeat All Access to add more stocks to your watchlist. Adding KLA Co. Please log in to your account or sign up in order to add this asset to your watchlist. Share KLA With A Colleague Link copied to clipboard. Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Your Password: Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Choose a Password: Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.