BN · rank #10 · 2026-10-21
KLAC
NASDAQ · $211.07B (USD)
The exact numbers the algorithm saw.
| Composite score Z-score blend of the factors below; drives the rank. | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Forward revenue growth Consensus forward revenue growth. | +18.9% |
| Forward net margin Consensus forward net margin. | +37.1% |
| Net margin TTM Trailing twelve month net margin. | +35.6% |
| Margin expansion Forward minus trailing net margin (percentage points). | +1.5% |
| Forward PEG Forward P/E to growth. Below 1 is cheap for the growth. | 1.80 |
| 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. | +39.7% |
| Last EPS surprise Most recent reported EPS versus consensus. | +5% |
| Market cap (USD) | $211.07B |
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 process-control and yield-management equipment supplier for wafer fabrication and advanced packaging, with ~50–57% share in advanced-packaging process control and a deeply embedded installed base across leading-edge fabs.
Rationale
The bottleneck-solver thesis is directly reinforced—KLA's tools are a non-optional gating step for yield in advanced packaging and leading-edge logic, advanced-packaging revenue share is accelerating (2% in 2023 to 7–8% in 2026), and 18.9% forward revenue growth with 37% net margins confirms the structural demand is converting to financials, not just sentiment.
Material risks
- 1U.S. export controls on China (~30% of FY2026 revenue) represent the most concrete near-term thesis disruptor, as restrictions can abruptly remove a material revenue block while simultaneously incentivizing Chinese fabs to accelerate domestic inspection/metrology substitutes that erode KLA's long-term moat.
- 2Customer or competitor in-house development of inspection and metrology capabilities (the primary SKIP-worthy disqualifier for this strategy) is a live risk given KLA's own disclosure that restrictions may enable China-based competitors to develop substitutes and take share, though no near-term displacement is confirmed.
AI verdict council
Each pick is reviewed independently by 3 models before any order. 3 of 3 voted to proceed.