KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price Down 8.8% – What’s Next?

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) was down 8.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $243.80 and last traded at $245.4670. Approximately 1,547,274 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 10,990,182 shares. The stock had previously closed at $269.16.

Key KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America raised its price target on KLA from $210 to $317 and kept a buy rating, implying meaningful upside from recent trading levels. Benzinga report on Bank of America price target increase
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says KLA is benefiting from AI-related chip demand, with analysts highlighting record revenue, rising advanced packaging opportunities, and strong process control positioning. Zacks article on AI spending and process control demand
• Positive Sentiment: Other recent reports describe KLA as a potential quiet winner of the AI buildout and note additional analyst target increases, reinforcing bullish sentiment around the stock. Insider Monkey article on AI buildout
• Neutral Sentiment: One analyst round-up from The Globe and Mail referenced KLA alongside other technology names, but it did not add a clear new catalyst beyond broader commentary on the sector. The Globe and Mail analyst roundup
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage notes that KLA has had significant price fluctuations and still trades at a rich valuation, which could make the shares more sensitive to any disappointment in future growth or margins. Insider Monkey article on KLA valuation and AI memory stocks

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on KLA from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on KLA from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded KLA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.26.

KLA Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $8.48. The company 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

KLA Cuts Dividend

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

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 7 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.