KLA Corp. upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays

Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley upgraded KLA Corp. to Equal Weight from Underweight with a price target of $765, up from $630. The analyst says a “robust uptick” in China spend and aggressive capex plans at the trailing edge in the U.S. offset some of wafer fab equipment decline and bridged the gap to a more favorable environment in 2025 and beyond. The firm now sees growth in China spend year-over-year in 2025. Looking out to 2025, it points to 2nm, high bandwidth memory, and capacity buildouts in DRAM as the most likely sources of growth in wafer fab equipment. Barclays now prefers a more neutral stance on the group.