KLAC vs VECO vs ONTO Stock Comparison

Kla, Veeco Instruments and Onto Innovation Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KLAC Kla Corp
$153.66 -18.2% 1M +26.5% 1Y
Market cap
$208.56B
P/E
43.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.58B
Div. yield
0.01%
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
7 wins
VECO Veeco Instruments Inc
$43.85 -11.7% 1M +50.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.68B
P/E
115.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$682.72M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
1 win
ONTO Onto Innovation Inc.
$214.16 -25.5% 1M +59.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.05B
P/E
83.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.12B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Kla leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Kla 7, Onto Innovation 3, Veeco Instruments 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKLACVECOONTOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $208.56B $2.68B $11.05B KLAC
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 43.2x 115.4x 83.3x KLAC
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.1x 30.0x 25.4x ONTO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +11.7% -2.5% +8.1% KLAC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 35.6% 3.4% 11.8% KLAC
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 40.7% 1.6% — KLAC
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -5.2x — VECO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +26.5% +50.0% +59.5% ONTO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +34.1%/yr +12.8%/yr +22.4%/yr KLAC
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 61.4% 70.8% 72.2% KLAC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 41/100 60/100 ONTO

Percentile Scorecard

KLACVECOONTO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisKLACVECOONTO
Valuation 39 #58 of 94 73 #26 of 94 61 #37 of 94
Growth 52 #45 of 92 15 #78 of 92 31 #64 of 92
Profitability 97 #4 of 90 36 #58 of 90 58 #38 of 90
Financial Health 20 #79 of 99 49 #51 of 99 57 #43 of 99
Shareholder Returns 86 #11 of 73 31 #51 of 73 94 #5 of 73
Overall 59 41 60
  • KLAC ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • VECO ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • ONTO ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodKLACVECOONTOSPY
1 month -18.2%-11.7%-25.5% -0.2%
3 months -19.5%-4.0%-11.5% +3.9%
6 months -15.1%-8.3%-24.2% +8.2%
Year to date +26.5%+53.4%+35.7% +12.9%
1 year +26.5%+50.0%+59.5% +12.3%
3 years +235.6%+81.5%+86.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +49.8%+22.0%+23.1% +23.3%
5 years +332.4%+82.3%+174.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year +34.1%+12.8%+22.4% +10.9%
10 years +1,956.5%+99.8%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +35.3%+7.2%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureKLACVECOONTOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 61.4%70.8%72.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 65.4%70.8%73.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.802.633.17 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.430.710.82 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.7%-64.2%-62.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -49.1%-47.2%-43.4% -1.2%
52-week high $301.71$83.04$378.45 $779.14
52-week low $109.71$26.39$124.09 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleKLACVECOONTO
P/E now vs peer median 41.7xmedian 45.6x 115.2xmedian 45.6x 79.8xmedian 45.6x
P/S now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 7.7x 3.9xmedian 7.7x 9.4xmedian 7.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 33.9xmedian 29.0x 63.0xmedian 29.0x 39.5xmedian 29.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 53.3xmedian 40.6x 31.5xmedian 40.6x 41.6xmedian 40.6x
P/B now vs peer median 31.6xmedian 4.6x 3.0xmedian 4.6x 5.5xmedian 4.6x
PEG now vs peer median 2.81median 2.28 -3.28median 2.28 -9.07median 2.28

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsKLACVECOONTO
Revenue $13.58B $682.72M $1.12B
Gross profit $8.32B $258.88M $564.06M
Operating income $5.66B $18.38M $134.61M
Net income $4.83B $23.24M $132.61M
Free cash flow $3.77B $85.17M $252.47M
R&D $1.53B $122.79M $142.63M
EPS (diluted) $3.66 $0.35 $2.67
Cash & equivalents $1.65B $214.46M $1.25B
Total debt $5.89B $904.53M –
Shares (diluted) 1.32B 66.78M 49.68M
Enterprise value $200.72B $1.11B $6.89B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricKLACVECOONTO
P/E 41.7x 115.2x 79.8x
P/FCF 53.3x 31.5x 41.6x
P/Operating cash flow 48.5x 26.9x 39.4x
P/S 14.8x 3.9x 9.4x
P/B 31.6x 3.0x 5.5x
P/Tangible book 33.0x 3.0x 6.3x
EV/EBITDA 33.9x 63.0x 39.5x
EV/EBIT 36.2x 134.8x 64.0x
EV/Revenue 15.1x 3.6x 7.7x
EV/FCF 54.4x 29.1x 34.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 49.5x 24.8x 32.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 2.81 -3.28 -9.07

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKLACVECOONTO
Revenue growth (1Y) 11.7% -2.5% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 9.0% 2.1% 7.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 12.4% -10.9% 5.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 9.9% -0.4% 5.4%
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.9% -66.4% -29.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.3% -30.4% -8.3%
Net income growth (1Y) 18.9% -61.6% -33.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 12.6% -29.9% -8.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 20.5% -65.4% -34.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 14.9% -35.1% -8.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 1.5% 33.0% -2.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.1% -1.8% 17.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 0.5% 53.4% 5.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.2% -0.1% 22.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKLACVECOONTO
Gross margin 61.3% 37.9% 50.4%
EBITDA margin 44.6% 5.8% 19.5%
Operating margin 41.7% 2.7% 12.0%
Pretax margin 41.3% 3.4% 14.1%
Net margin 35.6% 3.4% 11.8%
FCF margin 27.7% 12.5% 22.5%
Operating cash flow margin 30.5% 14.6% 23.8%
Return on equity 79.3% 2.6% 6.5%
Return on assets 27.7% 1.7% 4.4%
Return on invested capital 40.7% 1.6% –
Return on capital employed 43.2% 1.6% 4.8%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.5x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.9x 4.3x 2.0x
Stock comp / revenue 2.3% 5.3% 2.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKLACVECOONTO
Debt / assets 32.8% 16.0% –
Debt / equity 0.9x 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA 0.7x -5.2x –
Debt / FCF 1.6x 2.7x –
Liabilities / assets 64.6% 36.2% 48.0%
Equity / assets 35.4% 63.8% 52.0%
Interest coverage 19.9x 2.1x –
Current ratio 2.9x 3.9x 9.7x
Quick ratio 1.1x 2.5x 8.2x
Cash ratio 0.4x 1.8x 6.9x
Altman Z-score 13.01 3.85 5.06

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKLACVECOONTO
Dividend yield 0.5% – –
Net buyback yield 1.1% -0.1% 1.8%
Shareholder yield 1.6% -0.1% 1.8%
Payout ratio (earnings) 21.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 28.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 17.2% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 13.1% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusKLACVECOONTO
Forward P/E 27.1xFY2027 30.0xFY2026 25.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.67FY2027 $1.46FY2026 $8.42FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +50.8%FY2027 +9.8%FY2026 +70.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +16.6% +108.2% +43.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $19.18BFY2027 $753.17MFY2026 $1.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +41.2%FY2027 +13.4%FY2026 +35.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.6% +52.0% +41.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKLACVECOONTO
Held by institutions 91.0% 100.0% 98.3%
Institutions holding 2,478 327 688
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.2% +3.5% +2.3%
Institutions buying 1,285 207 376
Institutions selling 982 86 232
Buyers to sellers 1.31 2.41 1.62

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

KLACVECOONTO
KLAC 1.00 0.66 0.82
VECO 0.66 1.00 0.67
ONTO 0.82 0.67 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KLAC, VECO and ONTO?

Kla (KLAC) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kla (KLAC) $208.56B, Veeco Instruments (VECO) $2.68B, Onto Innovation (ONTO) $11.05B.

Which stock is cheaper, KLAC, VECO and ONTO?

Kla (KLAC) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Kla (KLAC) 43.2x, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 115.4x, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 83.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Onto Innovation (ONTO) is cheapest (Kla (KLAC) 27.1x, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 30.0x, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 25.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Kla (KLAC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kla (KLAC) +11.7%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) -2.5%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Kla (KLAC) has the highest net margin (Kla (KLAC) 35.6%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 3.4%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 11.8%). On return on invested capital, Kla (KLAC) leads (Kla (KLAC) 40.7%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 1.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Onto Innovation (ONTO) returned the most: Kla (KLAC) +26.5%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) +50.0%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) +59.5%. Over five years, Kla (KLAC) compounded fastest (Kla (KLAC) +34.1%/yr, Veeco Instruments (VECO) +12.8%/yr, Onto Innovation (ONTO) +22.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Kla (KLAC) 0.01%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 0.00%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 0.00%. Veeco Instruments (VECO) and Onto Innovation (ONTO) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kla (KLAC) has been the steadiest (Kla (KLAC) 61.4%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 70.8%, Onto Innovation (ONTO) 72.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KLAC, VECO and ONTO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Kla (KLAC) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.