I have worked at KLAC for almost 10 years now and have seen the markets go up and down. It is hard to predict what is going to happen but I do know one thing and that is KLA's management is one of the best in a downturn. Another thing I have noticed is when the analysts are all downgrading the stock it is time to buy.
Making a chip takes a lot of steps and KLA is the only company that makes equipment for all the different aspects of yield management. We are like the Total Solution Company.
I don't know when the market will turn up but some upbeat news is Intel is ramping up from 8' wafers to 12' wafers' which is what computer chips are made of. This doubles yields and cuts costs of making chips dramatically. Also they are leaving their capital equipment spending at 7.5BILLION yes BILLION dollars for this year and we will get a nice chunk of that money.
If you want to watch one thing too see when are stock will go up what the book to bill ratio on chip orders. When that goes up our stock goes up and it usually means in 6 months lag time we will be filling orders.