Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

Posted by Francis Steltz on Jul 10th, 2026

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $200.00 to $270.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $305.00 target price (up from $210.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings cut KLA from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $170.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $190.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.98.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on KLAC

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $229.49 on Friday. KLA has a 1-year low of $83.22 and a 1-year high of $307.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $215.07 and a 200-day moving average of $172.95. The firm has a market cap of $299.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.41.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. KLA had a return on equity of 91.89% and a net margin of 35.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.30, for a total transaction of $4,106,037.60. Following the completion of 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 45,120 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.34, for a total transaction of $9,986,725.44. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in KLA by 0.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 180,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,444,000 after buying an additional 1,291 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in KLA by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 104,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $112,721,000 after acquiring an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 96,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,676,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $119,618,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About KLA

(Get Free Report)

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.