Data as of:
LIVE
KLAC
KLA Corporation · Technology - Semiconductor Process Control
$176.99
-5.49% this month
VERSUS
COMPARE
AMAT
Applied Materials, Inc. · Technology - Semiconductor Equipment
$444.57
-10.40% this month
Comparison scoreboard
AMAT LEADS 4/5AI Scorei
KLAC 77.6
AMAT ✓80.3
1Y Returni
KLAC +69.09%
AMAT ✓+134.28%
Fwd P/Ei
KLAC 26.30
AMAT ✓24.74
Target Up.i
KLAC +33.50%
AMAT ✓+40.39%
Op. Margini
KLAC ✓42.49%
AMAT 33.74%
Metrics last refreshed: 9/20/2026
Quick take
KLAC vs AMAT Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
KLAC (KLA Corporation) and AMAT (Applied Materials) are both top-tier semiconductor equipment companies serving complementary roles — KLA dominates process control (inspection and metrology that verifies each process step worked correctly), while Applied Materials is the broadest equipment platform providing the actual deposition, etch, and materials engineering tools. KLA has higher margins and market share concentration; Applied Materials offers broader diversification.
KLAC vs AMAT is process control monopoly (KLA's 50% wafer inspection market share, highest margins in semiconductor equipment) versus semiconductor equipment breadth (Applied Materials' portfolio across the most process steps of any equipment company) — quality of competitive position versus diversification of revenue sources.
Live analysis · updated 9/20/2026
AMAT holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. AMAT leads on both 1-year return (+134.28%) and forward P/E quality (24.74x vs 26.30x for KLAC), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, AMAT is growing revenue faster (24.80%), while KLAC maintains the higher operating margin (42.49%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for AMAT (+40.39%) than for KLAC (+33.50%).
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Normalized 1Y performance
KLAC
AMAT
Recent returns
KLAC
AMAT
Analyst price targets & sentiment
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
KLAC · 26 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (2.1/5.0)
19 Buy / 10 Hold / 0 Sell
Price target range
analyst high$900.00
analyst mean$234.35
current price$176.99
+33.5% upside to analyst mean
AMAT · 32 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Buy (1.7/5.0)
33 Buy / 6 Hold / 0 Sell
Price target range
analyst low$152.00
analyst mean$640.89
current price$444.57
+40.4% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
KLAC may suit investors who:
- Want the highest-margin, most competitively protected semiconductor equipment franchise — KLA's near-monopoly in wafer inspection enables premium pricing that produces ~60% gross margins, far above the equipment industry average
- Value process control spending intensity as a secular growth driver — more complex chips require more inspection steps per wafer, growing KLA's content per wafer with each new node generation
- Prefer a narrow but dominant competitive position over diversification — KLA's focused inspection/metrology specialty has produced superior returns versus diversified equipment companies over the long term
AMAT may suit investors who:
- Want the most diversified semiconductor equipment exposure — Applied Materials participates in more process steps than any competitor, reducing concentration in any single technology or customer segment
- Value the materials engineering narrative as a growth driver when transistor scaling reaches physical limits and new materials become the primary source of chip performance improvement
- Prefer Applied Materials' more balanced customer mix across logic, memory, and foundry versus more memory-concentrated competitors
Performance & AI score
| Metric | KLAC | AMAT |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 77.6 | 80.3 |
| AI ranki | #18 | #14 |
| Latest closei | $176.99 | $444.57 |
| 1M returni | -5.49% | -10.40% |
| 6M returni | +17.09% | +24.46% |
| 1Y returni | +69.09% | +134.28% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | KLAC | AMAT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $16.91K (+69.1%) started 2025-09-18 | $23.43K (+134.3%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $78.17K (+681.7%) started 2021-09-20 | $34.86K (+248.6%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $1.42M (+14102.8%) started 2016-09-19 | $178.36K (+1683.6%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | KLAC | AMAT |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $229.35B | $362.27B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 48.09 | 39.39 |
| Forward P/Ei | 26.30 | 24.74 |
| Price/Salesi | 9.25 | 4.76 |
| EV/Revenuei | 16.98 | 11.69 |
| Analyst targeti | $234.35 | $640.89 |
| Target upsidei | +33.50% | +40.39% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | KLAC | AMAT |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 15.20% | 24.80% |
| Earnings growthi | 13.80% | 42.80% |
| EPS growthi | +13.80% | +42.80% |
| FCF margini | +19.33% | +9.97% |
| Operating margini | 42.49% | 33.74% |
| Profit margini | 35.57% | 30.05% |
| ROIC proxyi | 87.50% | 41.07% |
| Return on equityi | 87.50% | 41.07% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.50% | 0.46% |
| Payout ratioi | 21.86% | 16.48% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.46 | 1.60 |
| Debt/equityi | 96.88 | 28.67 |
| Current ratioi | 2.88 | 2.42 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.84 | 1.63 |
Correlation
Over the past year, KLAC and AMAT have moved barely in the same direction (correlation of 0.09), based on daily returns.
1Y
0.09
-1.0+1.0
5Y
0.12
-1.0+1.0
10Y
0.14
-1.0+1.0
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
KLAC max drawdowni90.02%
AMAT max drawdowni42.55%
KLAC max wkly dropi89.95%
AMAT max wkly dropi21.21%
5Y risk snapshot
KLAC max drawdowni90.02%
AMAT max drawdowni55.14%
KLAC max wkly dropi89.95%
AMAT max wkly dropi21.21%
10Y risk snapshot
KLAC max drawdowni90.02%
AMAT max drawdowni55.14%
KLAC max wkly dropi89.95%
AMAT max wkly dropi25.36%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | KLAC | AMAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +69.09% | +134.28% |
| CAGRi | +69.16% | +134.42% | |
| Volatilityi | 961.70% | 59.84% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.97 | 1.65 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 9.36 | 2.57 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.02% | 42.55% | |
| Current drawdowni | 41.34% | 38.51% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.63% | 9.31% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 19.70% | 15.10% | |
| Max daily dropi | 90.02% | 9.97% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 89.95% | 21.21% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +419.20% | +238.06% |
| CAGRi | +39.06% | +27.62% | |
| Volatilityi | 432.51% | 47.22% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.49 | 0.66 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 4.12 | 0.96 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.02% | 55.14% | |
| Current drawdowni | 41.34% | 38.51% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.21% | 20.72% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 16.36% | 25.31% | |
| Max daily dropi | 90.02% | 14.07% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 89.95% | 21.21% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +2852.56% | +1514.20% |
| CAGRi | +40.30% | +32.08% | |
| Volatilityi | 306.88% | 44.56% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.41 | 0.75 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 3.04 | 1.09 | |
| Max drawdowni | 90.02% | 55.14% | |
| Current drawdowni | 41.34% | 38.51% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.74% | 16.98% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.61% | 22.26% | |
| Max daily dropi | 90.02% | 20.36% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 89.95% | 25.36% |
Business comparison
| Category | KLAC | AMAT |
|---|---|---|
| Company | KLA Corporation | Applied Materials, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductor Equipment & Materials | Semiconductor Equipment & Materials |
| Core business | KLA Corporation is the world's dominant provider of semiconductor process control equipment — inspection systems that detect defects on wafer surfaces, metrology systems that measure critical dimensions and film properties, and wafer-level data analytics. KLA's equipment is used after nearly every process step to verify that the previous step was performed correctly before proceeding. | Applied Materials is the world's largest semiconductor equipment company — providing materials deposition (CVD, PVD, ALD), etch, ion implant, thermal processing, and process control equipment for logic, memory, and display manufacturing. Applied Materials participates in more wafer fabrication steps than any other equipment company. |
| Investor focus | Investors track KLA's equipment orders, process control intensity (the share of fab spending on inspection/metrology versus deposition/etch), service revenue from its inspection equipment installed base, and China exposure under export restrictions. KLA is valued for its dominant ~50% market share in wafer inspection and high gross margins. | Investors track Applied Materials' bookings across its materials engineering, etch, and process control segments, service revenue growth, China export restriction impact on revenue, and the company's materials engineering narrative as new materials enable performance gains at each node when transistor scaling faces limits. |
KLAC strengths
- Near-monopoly in wafer inspection — KLA has approximately 50% market share in wafer defect inspection, with the next competitor (Applied Materials' inspection unit) far behind. This near-monopoly reflects decades of instrument performance investment that makes competitors' products insufficient for leading-edge fabs
- Process control intensity increases with each node — more complex chips create more potential failure modes, requiring more inspection and metrology steps. KLA's content per wafer grows with complexity independent of volume
- Highest gross margins in semiconductor equipment (~60%) — KLA's process control monopoly position supports premium pricing impossible in more competitive equipment categories
AMAT strengths
- Revenue and product diversification across more process steps than any competitor — Applied Materials' exposure to CVD, PVD, ALD, etch, ion implant, and inspection reduces single-process concentration risk
- Materials engineering thesis — as traditional transistor size scaling slows, new materials (cobalt contacts, ruthenium interconnects, 2D materials) enable continued performance improvement, and Applied Materials is positioned as the leader in depositing and engineering these advanced materials
- Scale and customer relationships spanning every major logic, memory, and foundry manufacturer globally creates a formidable customer network that reinforces Applied Materials' ecosystem position
Risks to watch — KLAC
- Single-market concentration — KLA is more narrowly focused on inspection/metrology than Applied Materials' diversified portfolio; a slowdown in process control spending or breakthrough by competitors would have outsized impact
- China export restrictions — KLA's inspection and metrology equipment for advanced nodes is subject to U.S. export controls; China revenues represent a significant portion of historical sales
- Very high market share means limited upside from share gains; growth depends on industry capex levels and process control intensity increasing with each node
Risks to watch — AMAT
- Lower market share in any single equipment category versus specialists — KLA in inspection/metrology, Lam in etch, ASML in lithography each have stronger individual positions than Applied Materials in their respective niches
- Breadth creates organizational complexity — Applied Materials manages dozens of different product lines across multiple semiconductor process steps, which can diffuse engineering focus versus more specialized competitors
- China exposure to export restrictions is significant given the large China revenue base that has been constrained by U.S. export controls
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