New York, Jan 28, 2026, 13:27 EST — Regular session
- KLAC closed Tuesday up 4.8%, reaching $1,616.55. 1
- KLA will release its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the U.S. market closes on Jan. 29, followed by an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT, the company announced. 2
- ASML posted record orders in the fourth quarter and lifted its sales forecast for 2026, driven by a surge in AI-driven investment. CEO Christophe Fouquet noted, “Micron has been announcing a groundbreaking almost every week for the last few weeks.” 3
KLA Corp shares dipped 0.1% to $1,614.56 midday Wednesday, after fluctuating between $1,602.27 and $1,690.00 earlier in the session.
The nervous trading matters since investors want a clear signal on chip-equipment demand, and KLA’s results often set the tone for the sector. It’s among the rare stocks seen as a direct gauge of how aggressively fabs are boosting yields on cutting-edge chips.
KLA sells inspection and measurement tools — “process control” equipment that helps chipmakers identify defects and boost yield, meaning the share of usable chips produced from a wafer. As manufacturers push for smaller features and denser packaging, tolerances shrink and inspections ramp up.
Analyst activity played a role in the rally. Shares hit a fresh 52-week high Tuesday following Evercore ISI’s price target hike to $1,700 and a maintained “outperform” rating, MarketBeat reported. 4
KLA forecasted quarterly revenue around $3.225 billion, with a margin of error of $150 million, along with non-GAAP earnings of $8.70 per share, plus or minus 78 cents. (Non-GAAP excludes specific items.) According to Zacks, analysts expected $3.26 billion in revenue and $8.82 per share. 5
Chip-equipment stocks have slipped amid wider speculation that AI-driven data-center spending will keep fabs busy, covering everything from advanced logic chips to high-bandwidth memory. In the U.S., investors typically track KLA alongside rivals like Applied Materials and Lam Research. Meanwhile, ASML’s lithography forecast often influences sentiment across the entire tool chain.
The market remains focused on earnings and interest rates. “The market seems to be hanging in there waiting for a big week of earnings,” said Phil Blancato, chief market strategist at Osaic Wealth. 6
The risk is clear: expectations are sky-high, and the stock has proven it can swing sharply both ways. Any hint of margin pressure, cautious wording on orders, or signs customers are pulling back on capital spending could spark profit-taking.
KLA is set to release its quarterly earnings after U.S. markets close on Jan. 29. This report will be a key test for traders gauging how long the chip-equipment rally can last. 7
