Applied Materials vs KLA
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The short version
- Applied Materials is the larger business, with $28.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $13.6B for KLA, about 2.1 times as much.
- KLA grew revenue faster (11.7%, against 4.4%).
- KLA turned more of its sales into free cash flow (27.7% FCF margin, against 20.1%).
- KLA earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (75.3%, against 35.9%).
| Latest fiscal year | AMAT · FY25 | KLAC · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $301.8B | $192.1B |
| Revenue | $28.4B | $13.6B |
| Free cash flow | $5.7B | $3.8B |
| Net income | $7.0B | $4.8B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.4% | 11.7% |
| 5-year growth | 10.5% | 14.4% |
| Share count change | −3.1% | −1.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 48.7% | 61.3% |
| Operating margin | 29.2% | — |
| Net margin | 24.7% | 35.6% |
| FCF margin | 20.1% | 27.7% |
| Return on capital | 35.9% | 75.3% |
| Return on equity | 35.5% | 87.5% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$2.0B | $1.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.2x | 0.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $6.3B | $3.3B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 32.5x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 8 |
Revenue
FY17
AMAT $14.7B
KLAC $3.5B
FY18
AMAT $16.7B
KLAC $4.0B
FY19
AMAT $14.6B
KLAC $4.6B
FY20
AMAT $17.2B
KLAC $5.8B
FY21
AMAT $23.1B
KLAC $6.9B
FY22
AMAT $25.8B
KLAC $9.2B
FY23
AMAT $26.5B
KLAC $10.5B
FY24
AMAT $27.2B
KLAC $9.8B
FY25
AMAT $28.4B
KLAC $12.2B
FY26
AMAT —
KLAC $13.6B
AMAT
KLAC
Operating margin
FY17
AMAT 26.8%
KLAC —
FY18
AMAT 26.9%
KLAC —
FY19
AMAT 22.9%
KLAC —
FY20
AMAT 25.4%
KLAC —
FY21
AMAT 29.9%
KLAC —
FY22
AMAT 30.2%
KLAC —
FY23
AMAT 28.9%
KLAC —
FY24
AMAT 29.0%
KLAC —
FY25
AMAT 29.2%
KLAC —
FY26
AMAT —
KLAC —
AMAT
KLAC
Free cash flow
FY17
AMAT $3.4B
KLAC $1.0B
FY18
AMAT $3.2B
KLAC $1.2B
FY19
AMAT $2.8B
KLAC $1.0B
FY20
AMAT $3.4B
KLAC $1.6B
FY21
AMAT $4.8B
KLAC $2.0B
FY22
AMAT $4.6B
KLAC $3.0B
FY23
AMAT $7.6B
KLAC $3.3B
FY24
AMAT $7.5B
KLAC $3.0B
FY25
AMAT $5.7B
KLAC $3.7B
FY26
AMAT —
KLAC $3.8B
AMAT
KLAC
Return on capital
FY17
AMAT —
KLAC 82.0%
FY18
AMAT —
KLAC 78.0%
FY19
AMAT 29.8%
KLAC 48.2%
FY20
AMAT —
KLAC 32.0%
FY21
AMAT —
KLAC 52.2%
FY22
AMAT 49.0%
KLAC 71.8%
FY23
AMAT 45.0%
KLAC —
FY24
AMAT 43.8%
KLAC —
FY25
AMAT 35.9%
KLAC 79.6%
FY26
AMAT —
KLAC 75.3%
AMAT
KLAC
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.