Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Price

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $1,900.00 to $2,100.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,630.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,742.59.

KLA Trading Down 3.6%

Shares of KLAC opened at $1,750.35 on Thursday. KLA has a twelve month low of $674.76 and a twelve month high of $1,939.36. The company has a market cap of $229.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,586.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,391.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The semiconductor company reported $9.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.17 by $0.23. KLA had a net margin of 35.66% and a return on equity of 95.45%. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. KLA has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 8.870-10.870 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA will post 36.64 EPS for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 125.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KLA beat Q3 fiscal 2026 expectations: non?GAAP EPS $9.40 vs. consensus ~$9.16 and revenue $3.42B above estimates. Strong margins, cash flow and a bullish management tone on AI-related chip demand support medium?term fundamentals. KLA Q3 Results (press release)
• Positive Sentiment: Management boosted capital returns: raised quarterly dividend to $2.30 and added $7B to the share repurchase program — a strong signal of cash generation and shareholder focus that can support the stock. Press release — capital returns
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst price-target increases after the quarter lift the upside case: Wells Fargo to $2,100 (overweight), JPMorgan to $2,000 (overweight), Needham to $2,000 (buy). Higher targets reflect confidence in AI-driven equipment demand. Analyst price target raises (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: New Street raised its target to $1,770 but kept a neutral rating — suggests some analysts see limited near-term upside from current levels despite the beat. MarketScreener — New Street update
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction has been negative — headlines note the stock sliding after the earnings release. That likely reflects profit?taking and investor focus on the company’s guidance range (EPS range with a midpoint modest vs. some expectations). Benzinga — stock slides on Q3 earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage notes shares falling in broader market context — short?term volatility may persist as investors digest guidance, valuation (~50x P/E) and sector rotation. The Globe and Mail — shares falling

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.