LRCX vs VECO vs KLAC Stock Comparison

Lam Research, Veeco Instruments and Kla Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LRCX Lam Research Corp
$253.82 -19.3% 1M +63.1% 1Y
Market cap
$317.89B
P/E
37.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$26.13B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
9 wins
VECO Veeco Instruments Inc
$43.84 -10.7% 1M +51.3% 1Y
Market cap
$2.66B
P/E
114.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$682.72M
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
1 win
KLAC Kla Corp
$158.77 -16.1% 1M +31.6% 1Y
Market cap
$219.71B
P/E
43.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.06B
Div. yield
–
Semiconductor Equipment Technology
1 win

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Lam Research leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Lam Research 9, Veeco Instruments 1, Kla 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLRCXVECOKLACLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $317.89B $2.66B $219.71B LRCX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 37.6x 114.4x 43.8x LRCX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 25.1x 30.0x 28.0x LRCX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +33.4% -2.5% +12.2% LRCX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 32.3% 3.4% — LRCX
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 49.6% 1.6% — LRCX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.4x -5.2x — VECO
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +63.1% +51.3% +31.6% LRCX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +35.1%/yr +12.5%/yr +33.6%/yr LRCX
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 65.8% 70.8% 61.5% KLAC
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 40/100 43/100 LRCX

Percentile Scorecard

LRCXVECOKLAC

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

AxisLRCXVECOKLAC
Valuation 50 #48 of 94 72 #27 of 94 36 #61 of 94
Growth 85 #15 of 92 17 #77 of 92 54 #43 of 92
Profitability 96 #5 of 90 36 #58 of 90 92 #8 of 90
Financial Health 44 #56 of 99 49 #51 of 99 5 #94 of 99
Shareholder Returns 61 #29 of 73 26 #54 of 73 29 #52 of 73
Overall 67 40 43
  • LRCX ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • VECO ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors
  • KLAC ranked among 103 companies in Semiconductors

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLRCXVECOKLACSPY
1 month -19.3%-10.7%-16.1% +0.9%
3 months +0.6%+2.0%-6.7% +5.9%
6 months +2.0%-8.4%-12.6% +8.5%
Year to date +48.3%+53.4%+30.7% +13.3%
1 year +63.1%+51.3%+31.6% +12.4%
3 years +334.6%+81.5%+246.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year +63.2%+22.0%+51.4% +23.5%
5 years +350.4%+80.5%+325.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year +35.1%+12.5%+33.6% +11.0%
10 years +2,538.5%+99.7%+2,026.6% +263.4%
10 years, per year +38.7%+7.2%+35.8% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureLRCXVECOKLACSPY
Volatility, 1Y 65.8%70.8%61.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 65.3%70.7%65.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 3.262.632.80 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.960.730.51 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -56.8%-64.2%-51.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.4%-47.2%-47.4% -0.9%
52-week high $433.33$83.04$301.71 $779.14
52-week low $139.59$26.39$109.71 $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.

MultipleLRCXVECOKLAC
P/E now vs peer median 37.6xmedian 46.0x 115.2xmedian 46.0x 41.5xmedian 46.0x
P/S now vs peer median 12.1xmedian 7.9x 3.9xmedian 7.9x 14.8xmedian 7.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 31.0xmedian 28.3x 63.0xmedian 28.3x —median 28.3x
P/FCF now vs peer median 48.5xmedian 41.4x 31.5xmedian 41.4x 68.2xmedian 41.4x
P/B now vs peer median 22.8xmedian 4.6x 3.0xmedian 4.6x 31.8xmedian 4.6x
PEG now vs peer median 1.21median 2.30 -3.28median 2.30 2.20median 2.30

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 monthsLRCXVECOKLAC
Revenue $26.13B $682.72M $14.06B
Gross profit $13.34B $258.88M –
Operating income $9.65B $18.38M –
Net income $8.45B $23.24M $5.02B
Free cash flow $6.54B $85.17M –
R&D $2.47B $122.79M $1.53B
EPS (diluted) $6.73 $0.35 $3.80
Cash & equivalents $7.44B $214.46M $1.53B
Total debt $16.44B $904.53M –
Shares (diluted) 1.26B 66.78M 1.32B
Enterprise value $293.94B $1.09B $219.71B

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
MetricLRCXVECOKLAC
P/E 37.6x 115.2x 41.5x
P/FCF 48.5x 31.5x 68.2x
P/Operating cash flow 41.8x 26.8x 43.5x
P/S 12.1x 3.9x 14.8x
P/B 22.8x 3.0x 31.8x
P/Tangible book 22.8x 3.0x 32.9x
EV/EBITDA 31.0x 63.0x –
EV/EBIT 32.5x 134.7x –
EV/Revenue 12.0x 3.6x 14.8x
EV/FCF 47.9x 29.1x –
EV/Operating cash flow 41.4x 24.8x 43.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.21 -3.28 2.20

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLRCXVECOKLAC
Revenue growth (1Y) 33.4% -2.5% 12.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.2% 2.1% 11.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 38.1% -10.9% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 23.4% -0.4% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 49.3% -66.4% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 29.0% -30.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) 45.4% -61.6% 18.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 28.6% -29.9% 17.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 47.0% -65.4% 18.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.1% -35.1% 18.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.7% 33.0% 12.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 15.3% -1.8% 10.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 17.8% 53.4% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 13.2% -0.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLRCXVECOKLAC
Gross margin 51.1% 37.9% –
EBITDA margin 38.7% 5.8% –
Operating margin 37.0% 2.7% –
Pretax margin 37.2% 3.4% –
Net margin 32.3% 3.4% –
FCF margin 25.0% 12.5% –
Operating cash flow margin 29.0% 14.6% 33.9%
Return on equity 64.1% 2.6% 77.9%
Return on assets 33.9% 1.7% 27.6%
Return on invested capital 49.6% 1.6% –
Return on capital employed 54.8% 1.6% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.5x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.9x 4.3x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue 1.5% 5.3% 2.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLRCXVECOKLAC
Debt / assets 14.2% 16.0% –
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.3x –
Net debt / EBITDA -0.4x -5.2x –
Debt / FCF 0.6x 2.7x –
Liabilities / assets 47.2% 36.2% 64.6%
Equity / assets 52.8% 63.8% 35.4%
Interest coverage – 2.1x –
Current ratio 2.5x 3.9x 2.8x
Quick ratio 1.8x 2.5x –
Cash ratio 1.0x 1.8x –
Altman Z-score 19.96 3.85 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLRCXVECOKLAC
Dividend yield 0.4% – 0.3%
Net buyback yield 1.2% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 1.6% -0.1% 0.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusLRCXVECOKLAC
Forward P/E 25.1xFY2027 30.0xFY2026 28.0xFY2027
EPS, next fiscal year $10.12FY2027 $1.46FY2026 $5.67FY2027
EPS growth, next FY +73.9%FY2027 +9.8%FY2026 +50.8%FY2027
EPS growth, the year after +12.6% +108.2% +16.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $32.96BFY2027 $753.17MFY2026 $19.18BFY2027
Revenue growth, next FY +41.9%FY2027 +13.4%FY2026 +41.2%FY2027
Revenue growth, the year after +25.0% +52.0% +8.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLRCXVECOKLAC
Held by institutions 85.6% 100.0% 91.0%
Institutions holding 3,132 327 2,478
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.2% +3.5% +4.2%
Institutions buying 1,696 207 1,285
Institutions selling 1,163 86 982
Buyers to sellers 1.46 2.41 1.31

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.

LRCXVECOKLAC
LRCX 1.00 0.65 0.88
VECO 0.65 1.00 0.65
KLAC 0.88 0.65 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LRCX, VECO and KLAC?

Lam Research (LRCX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lam Research (LRCX) $317.89B, Veeco Instruments (VECO) $2.66B, Kla (KLAC) $219.71B.

Which stock is cheaper, LRCX, VECO and KLAC?

Lam Research (LRCX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lam Research (LRCX) 37.6x, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 114.4x, Kla (KLAC) 43.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lam Research (LRCX) is cheapest (Lam Research (LRCX) 25.1x, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 30.0x, Kla (KLAC) 28.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lam Research (LRCX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Lam Research (LRCX) +33.4%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) -2.5%, Kla (KLAC) +12.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Lam Research (LRCX) has the highest net margin (Lam Research (LRCX) 32.3%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 3.4%). On return on invested capital, Lam Research (LRCX) leads (Lam Research (LRCX) 49.6%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 1.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lam Research (LRCX) returned the most: Lam Research (LRCX) +63.1%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) +51.3%, Kla (KLAC) +31.6%. Over five years, Lam Research (LRCX) compounded fastest (Lam Research (LRCX) +35.1%/yr, Veeco Instruments (VECO) +12.5%/yr, Kla (KLAC) +33.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kla (KLAC) has been the steadiest (Lam Research (LRCX) 65.8%, Veeco Instruments (VECO) 70.8%, Kla (KLAC) 61.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Lam Research (LRCX) leads on 9. 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.