KLA Corp pops after CFRA upgrade, firm sees 20% upside from current levels
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KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) shares are rising on Monday, bucking the broader market, following an upgrade from CFRA, with the investment firm noting the company is well poised to gain from heavy spending in the semiconductor industry.
Analyst Keven Young raised his rating to strong buy from buy, but kept his $455 price target, noting that the company should see a benefit as customers like Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) and Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) boost spending in 2022, with Taiwan Semi spending between $40 billion and $44 billion this year and Samsung set to triple its foundry capacity by 2026.
"We also like KLAC's competitive position in both inspection and metrology along with healthy long-term opportunities in yield management and process control markets," Young wrote in a note to clients.
At last check, KLA Corp. (KLAC) shares were up slightly more than 2% to $380.99.
In addition, Young added that KLA's process control is "promising," as it gets ready to launch the Voyager 1035 laser scanning patterned wafer inspector, with the analyst noting that optical patterned wager inspection is among the fastest in the wafer fab equipment market.
Earlier this month, Wells Fargo said that chipmakers were likely to remain "volatile" as earnings season approaches, but that KLA Corp. (KLAC) would benefit as its clients, including Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), boost spending.