Applied Materials Inc vs KLA Corp

Applied Materials Inc (AMAT) is overvalued and KLA Corp (KLAC) is overvalued.

Both trade above our estimate of their intrinsic value. KLAC is the closer of the two: -77%, against -225% for AMAT.

Values as of the 22 Sept 2026 close.

Applied Materials Inc (AMAT)

Discounting its cash flows at 12.0% (average of 3 methods) values the shares at $145.26; the price of $472.46 is 225% above that value, and 66% of that value comes from beyond year five.

Leak Score 73/100 on 10 of 12 signals

KLA Corp (KLAC)

A 10.6x revenue multiple, adjusted for growth and margin, values the shares at $106.46; the price of $188.32 is 77% above that value.

Leak Score 57/100 on 8 of 12 signals

MetricAMATKLAC
VerdictOvervaluedOvervalued
Price$472.46$188.32
Intrinsic value$145.26$106.46
Margin of safety-225%-77%
Leak Score73/100 (10/12)57/100 (8/12)
Market cap$374.9B$246.0B
Revenue growth, 5 years10.5%14.4%
Operating margin31.1%41.7%
Net margin30.0%35.6%
Return on equity41.1%87.5%
Debt to equity0.290.97
P/E40.7x51.4x
Forward P/E25.2x27.9x
P/B14.6x38.8x
Dividend yield0.4%0.5%

All stocks in Semiconductor Equipment & Materials