KLA Stock Lost 10%, Buy Or Wait?
KLA (KLAC) stock is down 10.1% in 5 trading days. The stock looks fairly priced at the moment, though history suggests you may benefit from buying dips. Consider the following data:
- Size: KLA is a $135 Bil company with $12 Bil in revenue currently trading at $1,025.00.
- Fundamentals: Last 12 month revenue growth of 23.9% and operating margin of 41.2%.
- Liquidity: Has Debt to Equity ratio of 0.04 and Cash to Assets ratio of 0.28
- Valuation: KLA stock is currently trading at P/E multiple of 33.3 and P/EBIT multiple of 27.4
- Has one instance since 2010 where it dipped >30% in < 30 days and subsequently returned 172% within a year. See KLAC Dip Buy Analysis.
While we like to buy dips if the fundamentals check out – for KLAC, see Buy or Sell KLAC Stock – we are wary of falling knives. Specifically, it is worth trying to answer if things get really bad, and KLAC drops another 20-30% to $718 levels, will we be able to hold on to the stock? What is the worst case scenario? We call it downturn resilience. Turns out, the stock saw an impact slightly worse than the S&P 500 index during various economic downturns. We assess this based on both (a) how much the stock fell and, (b) how quickly it recovered.
KLAC stock has fallen meaningfully recently and we currently find it fairly priced. This may feel like a caution, and there is significant risk in relying on a single stock. However, there is a huge value to a broader diversified approach we take with Trefis High Quality Portfolio. Separately, consider what could long-term performance for your portfolio be if you combined 10% commodities, 10% gold, and 2% crypto with equities.
Below are the details, but before that, as a quick background: KLAC provides process control and yield management solutions for semiconductor industries, including defect inspection, metrology, process monitoring, computational lithography, and data analytics products.
2022 Inflation Shock
- KLAC stock fell 40.8% from a high of $445.00 on 14 January 2022 to $263.22 on 17 October 2022 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 25.4% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 26 May 2023
- Since then, the stock increased to a high of $1,139.71 on 6 October 2025 , and currently trades at $1,025.00
| KLAC | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -40.8% | -25.4% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 221 days | 464 days |
2020 Covid Pandemic
- KLAC stock fell 37.5% from a high of $182.57 on 2 January 2020 to $114.02 on 20 March 2020 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 33.9% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 3 June 2020
| KLAC | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -37.5% | -33.9% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 75 days | 148 days |
2018 Correction
- KLAC stock fell 33.6% from a high of $122.39 on 12 March 2018 to $81.23 on 24 December 2018 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 19.8% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 21 March 2019
| KLAC | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -33.6% | -19.8% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 87 days | 120 days |
2008 Global Financial Crisis
- KLAC stock fell 75.6% from a high of $62.46 on 19 July 2007 to $15.24 on 19 November 2008 vs. a peak-to-trough decline of 56.8% for the S&P 500.
- However, the stock fully recovered to its pre-Crisis peak by 14 October 2013
| KLAC | S&P 500 | |
|---|---|---|
| % Change from Pre-Recession Peak | -75.6% | -56.8% |
| Time to Full Recovery | 1790 days | 1480 days |
Worried that KLAC could fall much more? You could take a look at the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 – the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.