JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price target lifted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $200.00 to $238.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.74% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on KLA from $200.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. New Street Research increased their price objective on KLA from $146.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of KLA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $223.75.

KLA Stock Down 6.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $190.80 on Wednesday. The stock 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $224.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 3.03 and a quick ratio of 2.11. KLA has a 1-year low of $83.22 and a 1-year high of $307.37.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total value of $7,359,878.69. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 263,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,001,875.68. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,225,605.10. This trade represents a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 132,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,547,170 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of KLA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in KLA by 17.1% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $73,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA News Roundup

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

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.