TER vs KLAC Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Teradyne and KLA are both critical semiconductor equipment companies serving different parts of the chip manufacturing value chain. KLA inspects wafers during fabrication to find defects and improve yields — enabling leading-edge chip production. Teradyne tests finished chips after fabrication to verify functionality. Both benefit from AI semiconductor complexity. KLA is the larger company with greater process control market dominance; Teradyne has an additional robotics business diversifying beyond semiconductors.
TER vs KLAC is the semiconductor test equipment leader that verifies chip function after fabrication with additional robotics business diversification (Teradyne) versus the dominant process control and yield management equipment provider enabling leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing at TSMC and other foundries (KLA) — post-fab test ATE vs in-fab yield management inspection.
KLAC holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. TER has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+209.95% vs +70.59%), though KLAC has the better forward P/E setup (26.30x vs 30.64x for TER). On fundamentals, TER is growing revenue faster (103.90%), while KLAC maintains the higher operating margin (42.49%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for KLAC (+33.50%) than for TER (+25.05%).
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.
- prefer semiconductor ATE exposure to AI chip complexity growth — more complex AI accelerators require more extensive test coverage increasing Teradyne's per-chip economics
- value Teradyne's Universal Robots collaborative robotics segment as a non-semiconductor industrial automation growth vector diversifying semiconductor cycle exposure
- want HBM memory test demand exposure as AI accelerator HBM stacking requires specialized test equipment Teradyne provides
- are comfortable with ATE cyclicality from semiconductor inventory corrections, Advantest competition intensifying in advanced test, and Universal Robots slower-than-expected adoption
- prefer the dominant process control equipment provider whose yield management tools are indispensable requirements for leading-edge semiconductor node manufacturing at TSMC and others
- value KLA's 50%+ market share in wafer inspection and metrology creating pricing power and technology moat at the most critical semiconductor equipment segment
- want direct exposure to TSMC, Samsung, and Intel leading-edge fab capital spending — KLA captures content on every advanced wafer produced
- are comfortable with fab capex cyclicality, China export control revenue headwinds, and CHIPS Act investment being one-time rather than perpetual
| Metric | TER | KLAC |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 82.3 | 77.6 |
| AI ranki | #9 | #18 |
| Latest closei | $353.13 | $168.98 |
| 1M returni | -12.65% | -13.25% |
| 6M returni | +16.78% | +11.79% |
| 1Y returni | +209.95% | +70.59% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | TER | KLAC |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $30.89K (+208.9%) started 2025-09-17 | $17.07K (+70.7%) started 2025-09-17 |
| 5Y ago | $31.22K (+212.2%) started 2021-09-20 | $74.63K (+646.3%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $184.87K (+1748.7%) started 2016-09-19 | $1.36M (+13460.0%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | TER | KLAC |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $55.82B | $229.35B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 49.04 | 48.09 |
| Forward P/Ei | 30.64 | 26.30 |
| Price/Salesi | 4.71 | 9.25 |
| EV/Revenuei | 12.46 | 16.98 |
| Analyst targeti | $446.47 | $234.35 |
| Target upsidei | +25.05% | +33.50% |
| Metric | TER | KLAC |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 103.90% | 15.20% |
| Earnings growthi | 385.80% | 13.80% |
| EPS growthi | +385.80% | +13.80% |
| FCF margini | +9.80% | +19.33% |
| Operating margini | 33.16% | 42.49% |
| Profit margini | 25.77% | 35.57% |
| ROIC proxyi | 36.46% | 87.50% |
| Return on equityi | 36.46% | 87.50% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.15% | 0.50% |
| Payout ratioi | 6.87% | 21.86% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.78 | 1.46 |
| Debt/equityi | 2.88 | 96.88 |
| Current ratioi | 2.13 | 2.88 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.31 | 1.84 |
Over the past year, TER and KLAC have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.70), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | TER | KLAC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +208.90% | +70.71% |
| CAGRi | +209.39% | +70.84% | |
| Volatilityi | 77.40% | 60.52% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.80 | 1.12 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 2.73 | 1.62 | |
| Max drawdowni | 33.98% | 44.53% | |
| Current drawdowni | 27.02% | 43.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 9.84% | 11.76% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 13.87% | 17.82% | |
| Max daily dropi | 19.41% | 15.24% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 27.34% | 26.69% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +207.63% | +395.70% |
| CAGRi | +25.24% | +37.80% | |
| Volatilityi | 53.85% | 46.53% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.61 | 0.83 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.88 | 1.20 | |
| Max drawdowni | 59.12% | 44.53% | |
| Current drawdowni | 27.02% | 43.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 29.53% | 12.05% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 33.55% | 15.93% | |
| Max daily dropi | 22.41% | 15.24% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 27.34% | 26.69% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +1658.32% | +2718.94% |
| CAGRi | +33.22% | +39.67% | |
| Volatilityi | 47.34% | 43.37% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.75 | 0.89 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.10 | 1.30 | |
| Max drawdowni | 59.12% | 44.53% | |
| Current drawdowni | 27.02% | 43.99% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 20.02% | 9.66% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 25.85% | 13.35% | |
| Max daily dropi | 22.41% | 15.24% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 27.34% | 26.69% |
| Category | TER | KLAC |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Teradyne, Inc. | KLA Corporation |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Semiconductor Equipment & Materials | Semiconductor Equipment & Materials |
| Core business | Teradyne is the leading provider of automated test equipment (ATE) for semiconductors, electronics, and wireless devices. Teradyne's testers verify that semiconductor chips function correctly after fabrication — testing logic chips, memory, SoCs, and RF components. As chip complexity increases (AI accelerators, advanced packaging, 3D ICs), testing time and cost per chip increases, benefiting Teradyne. Teradyne also has a robotics segment (Universal Robots — collaborative robots for manufacturing) growing as industrial automation expands. | KLA Corporation is the dominant provider of process control and yield management equipment for semiconductor manufacturing — inspection and metrology tools that find defects in wafers during and after fabrication. KLA's equipment helps fabs identify process issues early, improving chip yields. As semiconductor nodes shrink (3nm, 2nm, 1.6nm), defect detection becomes more critical and difficult — KLA's technology is an enabling requirement for leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing at TSMC, Intel, and Samsung. |
| Investor focus | Investors track semiconductor ATE revenue (especially compute/AI chip test), memory tester demand (HBM memory for AI accelerators), and Universal Robots industrial collaborative robot growth. | Investors track leading-edge node investment (TSMC 3nm/2nm capex), process control intensity as nodes shrink, KLA's market share in inspection and metrology, and WFE (wafer fabrication equipment) spending trends. |
- ATE market duopoly with Advantest — Teradyne and Advantest control 80%+ of the global semiconductor test market, providing pricing power and market stability
- AI chip complexity drives ATE intensity — more complex chips require more test coverage and longer test times, expanding per-chip test economics
- HBM memory test demand for AI accelerators (Nvidia H100/H200, AMD MI300) is a direct AI infrastructure spending beneficiary
- KLA is indispensable at leading-edge nodes — without KLA's inspection and metrology tools, fab yields at 3nm and below would be unacceptably low, making KLA one of the most critical components in AI chip supply chains
- Process control intensity increases as nodes shrink — each new node generation requires more KLA inspection steps per wafer, expanding KLA's content per wafer
- KLA's leading 50%+ market share in process control and $10B+ revenue makes it one of the largest and most profitable semiconductor equipment companies
- Semiconductor ATE is cyclical — semiconductor inventory corrections reduce chip production volume, lowering ATE demand from fab customers
- Universal Robots collaborative robot growth has been slower than expected — industrial automation spending is discretionary and cyclical
- Advantest competition is intensifying — especially in HBM memory test and advanced SoC test segments
- KLA's revenue is tied to semiconductor fab capital spending — when TSMC, Samsung, or Intel reduce capex, KLA's equipment orders fall
- China export controls restrict KLA equipment sales to Chinese fabs — a revenue headwind as China's domestic semiconductor capacity expands
- US CHIPS Act fab investments drive near-term demand but are one-time capacity expansions
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