IPG Photonics, Magnachip, KLA Corporation, and Himax Stocks Trade Down, What You Need To Know

What Happened?

A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after markets faded the Nvidia rally in the morning session, as investors remained uncertain about future rate cuts. 

While the trading day began with significant enthusiasm, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 700 points and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.6%, momentum quickly evaporated as the session wore on. The primary catalyst for this sharp reversal was a stronger-than-expected jobs report, which reduced the implied odds of a December interest rate cut to less than 40%. This macroeconomic anxiety overshadowed stellar corporate performance. Nvidia initially surged 5% on blockbuster earnings and CEO Jensen Huang's bullish outlook on "off the charts" demand for Blackwell chips. However, the stock eventually turned negative, acting as a heavy weight that dragged the broader indices into the red. The sell-off partly reflects a deepening caution regarding high-flying tech valuations in a "higher-for-longer" rate environment. 

Consequently, investors appeared to rotate capital away from volatile growth sectors and toward defensive staples, evidenced by Walmart's 6% gain following its own earnings beat. Ultimately, the market could not sustain the morning's euphoria, as traders prioritized rate realities over AI potential.

The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.

Among others, the following stocks were impacted:

• Semiconductor Manufacturing company IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy IPG Photonics? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Analog Semiconductors company Magnachip (NYSE:MX) fell 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Magnachip? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Semiconductor Manufacturing company KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) fell 4.6%. Is now the time to buy KLA Corporation? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
• Analog Semiconductors company Himax (NASDAQ:HIMX) fell 3.5%. Is now the time to buy Himax? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Zooming In On KLA Corporation (KLAC)

KLA Corporation’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 13 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

The previous big move we wrote about was 1 day ago when the stock gained 2.7% on the news that analyst sentiment turned more positive, highlighted by a significant price target increase from Citigroup. This optimism followed the company's first-quarter results from late October, when it reported revenue of $3.21 billion, up roughly 13% from the previous year. Following the strong performance, a Citigroup analyst reaffirmed a “Buy” rating on the stock and sharply raised the price target to $1,450 from $1,060. This 36.8% increase in the price target signaled a strong positive outlook for the company. The broader analyst community also held a favorable view, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” that had become more bullish over the previous month.

KLA Corporation is up 73.4% since the beginning of the year, but at $1,104 per share, it is still trading 10.7% below its 52-week high of $1,235 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of KLA Corporation’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $4,550.

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