KLA’s (KLAC) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $270.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 41.51% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $240.00 target price on KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $191.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Scotiabank set a $200.00 target price on KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Citic Securities boosted their price target on KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $223.75.

KLA Trading Down 6.2%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $190.80 on Wednesday. KLA has a 52 week low of $83.22 and a 52 week high of $307.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $224.25 and its 200-day moving average is $180.95. The firm has a market cap of $249.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at $157,996,990.71. This trade represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total value of $4,106,037.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,225,605.10. This trade represents a 21.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 132,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,547,170. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in KLA by 978.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 858,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,164,000 after purchasing an additional 779,317 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 781.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 359,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,397,000 after buying an additional 318,520 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $265,444,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 151.2% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 116,292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $171,230,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,676,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key 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

About KLA

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.