KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Buyback $7.00 billion in Outstanding Stock

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, March 12th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays increased their target price on KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their price target on KLA from $1,500.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on KLA from $1,760.00 to $1,770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,601.04.

KLA Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of KLA stock opened at $1,409.57 on Friday. KLA has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $1,693.35. The stock has a market cap of $184.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.45. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $1,461.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,234.55.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a return on equity of 98.18% and a net margin of 35.76%.The company had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s payout ratio is 22.11%.

More KLA News

Here are the key news stories impacting KLA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company announced a new $7 billion share repurchase authorization and a 21% increase to the quarterly dividend (to $2.30), and reaffirmed March‑quarter guidance — a clear capital‑return boost for shareholders that drove initial upside. KLA Hosts Investor Day; Announces $7 Billion Share Repurchase Program and 21% Increase to Quarterly Dividend; Reaffirms March 2026 Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Market headlines and premarket coverage showed an immediate bullish reaction to the buyback/dividend news, lifting sentiment among momentum and income investors. KLA Corp Announces Massive $7 Billion Buyback, Dividend Hike
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and sector stories highlight continued tailwinds from AI infrastructure and advanced packaging demand, supporting medium‑term revenue growth expectations for process‑control equipment providers like KLA. 3 Electronics Stocks Set to Benefit From a Thriving Industry
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights strong momentum (90‑day and 1‑year returns) but shows divergent fair‑value estimates — some analysts signal more upside, others flag elevated multiples; this creates mixed near‑term signals for valuation‑sensitive investors. Assessing KLA (KLAC) Valuation As Recent Momentum Meets Conflicting Fair Value Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: With the share price above $1,400, commentary has renewed stock‑split speculation (could widen retail interest) — a psychological/structural consideration rather than an immediate fundamental change.
• Negative Sentiment: Some analyst notes and coverage still point to a softer fiscal‑Q3 outlook and potential near‑term cyclicality in capex, leaving room for downside if customer spending moderates; that risk likely contributed to intraday profit‑taking after the initial rally. KLA Jumps 22% in 3 Months: Is There More Room for the Stock to Grow?

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. This represents a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Company Profile

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.