KLA Stock Has One Thing Left To Prove Trefis Team Thu, November 12, 2026 at 7:02 AM EST 3 min read KLAC -2.33% ^GSPC +1.31% AMAT -2.46% LRCX -2.94% ONTO -3.02% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
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KLA (KLAC), which makes process control systems for chipmakers, trades at 40 times its earnings over the past twelve months, against 21.9 for the S&P 500. That price appears to assume KLA's sales keep climbing, and the risk to that growth sits less with demand from chipmakers than with KLA's ability to build and ship and with customers' fabs being ready. KLA has not yet shown that its supply can keep pace with that demand.
KLA Has Had More Demand Than It Could Ship
Management has said KLA could have shipped more in 2026, because its demand was ahead of its supply. The first half of 2026 was weaker for that reason, management said on the company's October 28, 2026 call for the September 2026 quarter (fiscal Q1 2027). Analysts asked about supply and lead times on that call. Management put KLA's average lead time at around 12 months, and longer for some products.
KLA's growth is what is at stake. Revenue grew 7.2% from a year earlier in the quarter to December 2025, followed by an 11.5% increase in the quarter to March 2026. Growth then rose to 15.2% in the quarter to June 2026 and hit 28.9% in the quarter to September 2026. For the December 2026 quarter, management has guided for revenue of $4.7 billion plus or minus $200 million, compared to $4.14 billion in the September quarter.
What Has KLA Said About Catching Up?
Management has said supply is improving, with the flow of key components increasing month by month. Management said new supply coming online shaped the December guidance, which it said is set by what KLA can ship and where its supply chain stands. Management also expects revenue to grow from one quarter to the next for the next several quarters.
KLA is also spending to add capacity. The company is investing in every factory it has and will add staff in manufacturing and service, management said. Over the next few years, management expects capital spending to trend up to between $600 million and $800 million a year.
Some of the timing remains outside KLA's control. Management said that a couple of customers asked for deliveries but then put them on hold while waiting for their own facilities. The limitation, management said, is not just the equipment but the readiness of the fabs.
KLA's Next Report Is Due In January 2027
Management has said it will say more about the 2027 market on its late-January call. When the company is expected to report in January 2027, KLA's December-quarter revenue, set against the guide management gave in October, is the number to watch.
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