If You Invested $1000 in KLA a Decade Ago, This is How Much It'd Be Worth Now

How much a stock's price changes over time is a significant driver for most investors. Not only can price performance impact your portfolio, but it can help you compare investment results across sectors and industries as well.Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.What if you'd invested in KLA (KLAC) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to KLAC for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?KLA's Business In-DepthWith that in mind, let's take a look at KLA's main business drivers.San Jose, CA-based KLA Corporation is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of process diagnostics and control (PDC) equipment and yield management solutions required for the fabrication of semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) or chips. The company has a comprehensive portfolio of products addressing each major PDC subsegment—photomask (reticle) inspection, wafer inspection/defect review and metrology.Reticle production is vital to the semiconductor device formation process. Reticles are used to control the precise deposition of materials onto the wafer, which ultimately change its chemical characteristics, imparting specific functionalities to the ICs thus created. Inspection and metrology tools measure the quality of the reticles, helping to improve reticle production yields. As a result of the broader applicability of semiconductors, shrinking form factors and increasing functionalities of individual chips, reticle design and production are growing in importance. Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor were the largest customers in the last three years, accounting for more than 10% of total sales in each year.KLA reported revenues of $12.16 billion in fiscal 2025. Product revenues accounted for 78% while the rest came from Service segment.KLA’s two main product lines are defect inspection and metrology. The company’s defect inspection tools have very broad application in chip, wafer, reticle, storage, compound semiconductor and MEMS manufacturing. Metrology tools are used to gather critical dimension measurements of the wafer and process dimensions such as film thickness, lithography overlay and surface profiling. The company’s metrology products are used in chip, wafer, reticle and solar device manufacturing. KLA also offers other products and services.In addition to new tools, KLA also offers a comprehensive portfolio of refurbished tools that upgrade and improve yields of existing equipment under the KT-Certified program. Refurbished tools are currently sold to IC, reticle, substrate, MEMS and data storage manufacturers.  Although KLA is a major player in each of its served markets, it faces competition from other large equipment suppliers such as Applied Materials and Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation. Bottom LinePutting together a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of research, patience, and a little bit of risk. For KLA, if you bought shares a decade ago, you're likely feeling really good about your investment today.According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in January 2016 would be worth $21,519.65, or a gain of 2,051.97%, as of January 15, 2026, and this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.The S&P 500 rose 260.42% and the price of gold increased 313.45% over the same time frame in comparison.Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for KLAC.KLA is benefiting from strong demand for leading-edge logic, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced packaging, which is driving market share growth in the semiconductor industry. Accelerating investment in AI infrastructure bodes well for KLA's prospects. Advanced packaging is expected to exceed $925 million in 2025. The company's robust portfolio and its leadership in process control systems are enabling customers to manage increasing design complexity. The services business also performed well, contributing significantly to revenue growth. KLA is well-positioned to capitalize on AI advancements, with AI driving demand for higher-value wafer processing and more complex designs. However, extended U.S. export controls on China is expected to negatively impact revenues in the near term. Tariff-related uncertainties remain a concern.The stock is up 22.40% over the past four weeks, and no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 3 higher, for fiscal 2025. The consensus estimate has moved up as well.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockThis under-the-radar company specializes in semiconductor products that titans like NVIDIA don't build. It's uniquely positioned to take advantage of the next growth stage of this market. And it's just beginning to enter the spotlight, which is exactly where you want to be.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $971 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report KLA Corporation (KLAC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks