KLA
KLAC on Nasdaq. KLA sells chip-making equipment and services to semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. Market value $270.3bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to June 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to June 2026.
The company doesn't report operating profit, so we work it out from pre-tax profit and interest.
Should I look at this?
Good business, but not cheap right now
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
See cheaper Technology stocks on the list
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $1.39 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 46.6 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 45 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 100 of 100. Price score: 17 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$206.85 a share, 111% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $98.10 to $307.37.
Dividend: 0.4% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Monday’s close (5 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $9.2bn | $10.5bn | $9.8bn | $12.2bn | $13.6bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 39.6% | 38.9% | 35.7% | 40.7% | 43.4% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 4.75 | 2.02 | 1.97 | 1.25 | 0.93 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.14bn | 0.13bn | 0.13bn | 0.13bn | 1.31bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Watch
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.93× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 14.4% a year
- Buying back its own sharesNo, 856% more shares since 2022
The quarter to June 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $3.7 billion last quarter, up 15% on a year ago.
- Profit: $1.4 billion, up 13% on a year ago.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $3.8 billion, up from $3.7 billion.
- Debt is $4.2 billion more than cash, up from $3.8 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $2.8bn |
| December 2024 | $3.1bn |
| March 2025 | $3.1bn |
| June 2025 | $3.2bn |
| September 2025 | $3.2bn |
| December 2025 | $3.3bn |
| March 2026 | $3.4bn |
| June 2026 | $3.7bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| September 2024 | $946m |
| December 2024 | $825m |
| March 2025 | $1.1bn |
| June 2025 | $1.2bn |
| September 2025 | $1.1bn |
| December 2025 | $1.1bn |
| March 2026 | $1.2bn |
| June 2026 | $1.4bn |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 28 October 2026
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 6 August 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 30 July 2026
Who owns it
14 long-term investors we follow own it, down from 15 last quarter. 2,482 funds in all.
- Platinum Investment ManagementPlatinum team
- Value
- $4m
- Share of fund
- 1.1%
- Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- 0.3%
- LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok
- Value
- $603,000
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMOJeremy Grantham | $1.2bn | 2.6% | Cut |
| Jensen Investment ManagementEric Schoenstein | $238m | 5.8% | Cut |
| Findlay Park PartnersFindlay Park team | $197m | 2.7% | Added |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $89m | 0.2% | Cut |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $55m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Mawer Investment ManagementMawer team | $32m | 0.2% | Added |
| Torray Investment PartnersRobert Torray (founder) | $11m | 1.5% | Cut |
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $10m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Horizon KineticsMurray Stahl | $6m | <0.1% | Cut |
| Platinum Investment ManagementPlatinum team | $4m | 1.1% | |
| Auxier Asset ManagementJeff Auxier | $2m | 0.3% | |
| Delphi ManagementScott Black | $2m | 2.0% | Cut |
| Boyar Asset ManagementMark Boyar | $603,420 | 0.3% | Cut |
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $603,000 | <0.1% |
Sold out this quarter
- Third PointDan LoebSold out
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$38.1bn
- Vanguard Capital Management$25.7bn
- State Street$19.0bnAdded
- Capital World Investors$13.7bnAdded
- Invesco$13.5bn
- FMR$13.0bnCut
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$11.9bnCut
- Alliancebernstein L.P.$11.0bnAdded
- Geode Capital Management$11.0bn
- Capital International Investors$10.7bnAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
1 investor owns more than 5%.
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.5%Since 31 March 2026
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought shares on the open market in the last 12 months. 7 sold $112m, $111m of it under preset trading plans.
- WALLACE RICHARD PPresident and CEOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 15 September 2026
- Shares
- 72,019
- Price
- $171.88
- Value
- $12m
- Lorig BrianEVP, KLA Global ServicesSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 13 August 2026
- Shares
- 59,586
- Price
- $208.13
- Value
- $12m
- Higgins Bren D.EVP & Chief Financial OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 12 August 2026
- Shares
- 31,500
- Price
- $209.87
- Value
- $7m
- Khan Ahmad A.President, Semi. Prod. & Cust.Soldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 11 August 2026
- Shares
- 33,180
- Price
- $198.95
- Value
- $7m
- WALLACE RICHARD PPresident and CEOSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 11 August 2026
- Shares
- 87,568
- Price
- $198.95
- Value
- $17m
- Kirloskar Virendra ASVP & Chief Accounting OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 10 August 2026
- Shares
- 529
- Price
- $204.56
- Value
- $108,212
- Wilkinson Mary BethEVP, CLO and SecretarySoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 10 August 2026
- Shares
- 1,661
- Price
- $204.56
- Value
- $339,774
- Wilkinson Mary BethEVP, CLO and SecretarySoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 7 August 2026
- Shares
- 21,831
- Price
- $197.57
- Value
- $4m
- Kirloskar Virendra ASVP & Chief Accounting OfficerSoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 7 August 2026
- Shares
- 2,405
- Price
- $197.57
- Value
- $475,156
- Wilkinson Mary BethEVP, CLO and SecretarySoldunder a preset trading plan
- Date
- 5 August 2026
- Shares
- 13,802
- Price
- $195.50
- Value
- $3m
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 September 2026 | WALLACE RICHARD P President and CEO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 72,019 | $171.88 | $12m |
| 13 August 2026 | Lorig Brian EVP, KLA Global Services | Sold under a preset trading plan | 59,586 | $208.13 | $12m |
| 12 August 2026 | Higgins Bren D. EVP & Chief Financial Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 31,500 | $209.87 | $7m |
| 11 August 2026 | Khan Ahmad A. President, Semi. Prod. & Cust. | Sold under a preset trading plan | 33,180 | $198.95 | $7m |
| 11 August 2026 | WALLACE RICHARD P President and CEO | Sold under a preset trading plan | 87,568 | $198.95 | $17m |
| 10 August 2026 | Kirloskar Virendra A SVP & Chief Accounting Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 529 | $204.56 | $108,212 |
| 10 August 2026 | Wilkinson Mary Beth EVP, CLO and Secretary | Sold under a preset trading plan | 1,661 | $204.56 | $339,774 |
| 7 August 2026 | Wilkinson Mary Beth EVP, CLO and Secretary | Sold under a preset trading plan | 21,831 | $197.57 | $4m |
| 7 August 2026 | Kirloskar Virendra A SVP & Chief Accounting Officer | Sold under a preset trading plan | 2,405 | $197.57 | $475,156 |
| 5 August 2026 | Wilkinson Mary Beth EVP, CLO and Secretary | Sold under a preset trading plan | 13,802 | $195.50 | $3m |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the warning signs we check for were found.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 6 Aug 2026, and no later 8-Ks.
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
- It isn't cheap on profits: 46.6× operating profit.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.