KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $268.41 and last traded at $266.2240, with a volume of 952014 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $259.56.

KLA News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on KLA Corporation (KLAC) to $317 from $210 and reiterated a Buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street optimism about the stock’s long-term upside. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst commentary remains constructive, with several firms maintaining Buy or Overweight ratings on KLAC and citing AI-driven demand, process-control strength, and advanced packaging exposure. Globe and Mail article
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary from market analysts suggests KLAC had been benefiting from strong momentum after its June 12 stock split, so some of today’s weakness may simply reflect a pullback after a strong run.
• Negative Sentiment: KLAC was hit by a broad semiconductor selloff, with peers such as Lam Research, Applied Materials, Micron, AMD, and others also under pressure, which amplified the decline in the stock. Devdiscourse article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite strong fundamentals, the stock’s elevated valuation and recent surge may be making it vulnerable to profit-taking during sector-wide risk-off trading.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $150.50 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on KLA from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna raised their price target on KLA from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered KLA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.26.

KLA Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $319.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.20, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $199.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 3.03.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.37 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 26.06%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $7.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 713,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,996,990.71. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in KLA by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 94 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Motco grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 405 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of KLA by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 305 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.