Does Beating The Market Prove KLA Is A Great Company?
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KLA Corp (KLAC) sells chipmaking tools, mostly process control systems and the services that support them. The stock has beaten the S&P 500 in each of the last four years, a record that looks like proof of an exceptional company. So how many of about 480 large U.S. stocks do you think managed the same four-year run?
How Rare Is KLA’s Winning Streak?
In every one of the last four years, KLA stock rose more than the S&P 500, with all price changes measured before dividends. The table also shows the year before the streak, when KLA lagged the index.
| Period | The stock | S&P 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2021 to Oct 17, 2022 | -20.0% | -17.7% |
| Oct 17, 2022 to Oct 18, 2023 | +82.1% | +17.3% |
| Oct 18, 2023 to Oct 18, 2024 | +41.5% | +35.9% |
| Oct 18, 2024 to Oct 22, 2025 | +64.2% | +14.2% |
| Oct 22, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 | +30.7% | +13.8% |
Price changes over periods of 252 trading sessions each, dividends excluded.
KLA is one of only 23 among the 485 stocks measured to beat the index in each of those four years. Losing to the index is the normal case: only 41.9% of these stocks beat it in the latest year. In each year of KLA’s streak, fewer than half of these stocks beat it, and doing it four years running is rare.
Could A Streak Like This Be Luck?
A rare streak can still come from luck. With this many stocks, a few will string together long streaks even if no company is better run than another.
About four in ten of these stocks beat the index in a typical year. Suppose it were pure luck which ones. If you placed all 485 names in a hat and pulled out four in ten of them each year as winners, about 12 names would come out four years in a row. So about a dozen companies would have a four-year winning streak with no skill involved at all.
In fact, 23 companies have such a streak, about twice as many as luck alone would give. So streaks like this happen more often than pure chance would predict, but the share price alone cannot show which of the 23 owe theirs to a better-run business.
Did KLA’s Profit Grow Through The Streak?
KLA’s Semiconductor Process Control business generated 90.1% of revenue in fiscal 2025, accounting for most of what the company sells. Over the four years of the streak, KLA’s net income, one-time items included, grew 47.3% while its stock rose 453.2%.
Profit rose in only two of those four years. It fell in the twelve months to September 2023 and again in the twelve months to September 2024, and the stock still beat the index both times. So rising profit stood behind the streak in only half of its years. The profit record is worth checking, but on its own it does not settle whether the streak was skill.
What To Watch Instead Of The Streak
On its July 28, 2026 call, management said it expects advanced packaging process control systems revenue to grow more than 70% in calendar 2026, and that demand tied to AI infrastructure has strengthened since its March Investor Day.
The streak is a record of what KLA’s share price did, while profit is a record of what the business earned. When the company next reports, expected in October 2026, KLA’s net income growth is the figure to watch.
Is Too Much Of Your Wealth Riding On One Stock?
A long winning run leaves KLA holders asking how much of it will last. When one position grows into a large part of your wealth, a sharp fall can hurt your whole plan, and selling to spread the money out can bring a large tax bill. Our partner advisory firm offers a free strategy review of ways to protect a concentrated position and unwind it with less tax.
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