BN · rank #16 · 2026-09-07
KLAC
NASDAQ · $242.50B (USD)
The exact numbers the algorithm saw.
| Composite score Z-score blend of the factors below; drives the rank. | 0.29 |
|---|---|
| Forward revenue growth Consensus forward revenue growth. | +18.0% |
| Forward net margin Consensus forward net margin. | +37.0% |
| Net margin TTM Trailing twelve month net margin. | +35.6% |
| Margin expansion Forward minus trailing net margin (percentage points). | +1.4% |
| Forward PEG Forward P/E to growth. Below 1 is cheap for the growth. | 1.65 |
| Debt / FCF Net debt relative to free cash flow. Lower is safer. | 1.63× |
| Analyst upside Spread between the consensus 12m target and the current price. | +26.0% |
| Last EPS surprise Most recent reported EPS versus consensus. | +5% |
| Market cap (USD) | $242.50B |
The AI research card
Independent qualitative review of each pick before the order is placed. On the rare day the research service is unavailable, the paper book trades on the quant ranking alone and no card appears here.
Summary
KLA Corporation is the dominant provider of wafer inspection and metrology systems for front-end fab process control and advanced packaging, with its tools embedded as yield-critical bottlenecks in leading-edge foundry logic and high-bandwidth memory production lines.
Rationale
The bottleneck-solver thesis is directly reinforced by KLA's single-source position in advanced packaging inspection and HBM metrology, where customers cannot ramp AI chip yields without KLA's process control loop, supporting the 18% forward revenue growth and 37% net margin at a 1.65x PEG.
Material risks
- 1Export control expansion targeting advanced semiconductor equipment into China could abruptly remove a meaningful revenue segment with no near-term replacement, directly compressing the forward growth rate underpinning the valuation.
- 2Capex concentration risk — a pause or reprioritization by one or two leading-edge foundry or HBM customers (TSMC, SK Hynix) would disproportionately hit orders given demand is currently clustered at the AI-driven leading edge rather than broadly distributed across the installed base.
AI verdict council
Each pick is reviewed independently by 3 models before any order. 3 of 3 voted to proceed.