KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Aug 1st, 2026

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on KLAC. UBS Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of KLA and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Citic Securities boosted their price target on KLA from $135.00 to $197.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on KLA from $140.00 to $186.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $223.70.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on KLAC

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $182.82 on Thursday. KLA has a one year low of $83.22 and a one year high of $307.37. The firm has a market cap of $238.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.86, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.51.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.05. KLA had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 87.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. KLA’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 1.060-1.260 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA will post 5.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 27,701 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.69, for a total transaction of $7,359,878.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 263,472 shares in the company, valued at $70,001,875.68. This trade represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 14,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,367 shares in the company, valued at $15,225,605.10. This trade represents a 21.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 132,333 shares of company stock valued at $29,547,170 over the last 90 days. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 3,773 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,380,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the second quarter. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 13.8% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,118 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,584,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $444,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting KLA

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

Positive Sentiment: Upgraded to Strong Buy: Zacks raised KLA to a Rank #1 (Strong Buy), citing improving earnings prospects. KLAC was also included on Zacks’ momentum and new Strong Buy lists. KLA upgraded to Strong Buy
Positive Sentiment: Analyst support strengthened: JPMorgan lifted its price target to $238, while Needham reaffirmed its Buy rating and Cantor Fitzgerald assigned an Overweight rating. TD Cowen also maintained a $260 Buy-rated target, supported by accelerating growth and advanced packaging opportunities. JPMorgan raises KLA price target
Positive Sentiment: AI and advanced packaging demand: KLA expects advanced-packaging revenue to rise more than 70% in 2026 as increasingly complex AI chips drive demand for inspection, metrology and yield-management equipment. Its latest quarter also exceeded consensus estimates for earnings and revenue, with revenue up 15.2% year over year. KLA advanced packaging growth
Positive Sentiment: Favorable sector flows: Semiconductor ETFs attracted substantial new investor money this week as strong technology earnings fueled a chip-stock rally, creating a supportive backdrop for KLAC. Semiconductor ETFs draw cash
Neutral Sentiment: Industry analysts argue semiconductor oversupply is unlikely before 2028 because the infrastructure required for excess capacity is not yet in place, supporting long-term equipment demand but not providing a company-specific catalyst. Semiconductor oversupply outlook
Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat and higher guidance, KLAC faced pressure after results as investors focused on uncertainty around the outlook. Its roughly 50 forward earnings multiple also leaves the stock vulnerable if AI-related growth expectations moderate. KLA earnings and stock reaction

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.