KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Down 9.7% – Time to Sell?

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)’s stock price fell 9.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $1,540.00 and last traded at $1,521.86. 244,353 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 1,127,036 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,684.71.

Key Stories Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA beat Q2 expectations — non‑GAAP EPS $8.85 vs. ~$8.75 estimate and revenue $3.30B vs. ~$3.25B; company reported strong margins, healthy free cash flow and continued capital returns, supporting the longer‑term growth thesis. KLA Corp beats quarterly results estimates on strong chipmaking tool demand (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish overall — several firms raised price targets or reaffirmed buys (Needham, Berenberg, RBC among them), leaving upside to many street targets despite today’s weakness. Berenberg lifts price target on KLA (MarketScreener)
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA sees advanced‑packaging revenue rising mid‑ to high‑teens in 2026 as AI demand boosts process‑control — a positive secular signal but more medium‑term in impact. KLA sees advanced packaging revenue rising mid- to high-teens in 2026 (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: KLA issued Q3 FY26 guidance with a wide EPS range (about $8.30–$9.86) and revenue range ($3.2B–$3.5B) — the EPS midpoint is slightly below consensus, creating uncertainty until the next quarter’s demand picture clears. Q2 earnings call highlights (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction focused on WFE (wafer‑fab equipment) outlook concerns and mixed commentary from the call — headlines highlight a selloff despite the beat, pressuring the stock. KLA falls amid WFE outlook concerns (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Large bearish activity and selling signals today: unusually heavy put buying (10,731 puts, ~514% above typical volume) and intraday data showing a sharp drop and notable insider selling flagged by data providers — these amplify downside pressure. $KLAC stock is down 8% today (Quiver Quantitative)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,450.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,750.00 to $1,850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $1,751.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,565.21.

KLA Stock Down 12.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $193.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,319.08 and a 200 day moving average of $1,121.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.26% and a net margin of 33.83%.KLA’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This trade represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,704,954.10. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. KTF Investments LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $863,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in KLA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,676,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.