KLA CORP (KLAC)

KLA Corporation supplies equipment and services for the electronics industry, with a core focus on enabling technological advances and improving manufacturing yields in semiconductors. It provides advanced process control and process-enabling solutions for manufacturing wafers, reticles/masks, chemicals/materials, integrated circuits, packaged ICs and printed circuit boards, together with process control software and support services across its installed base. The company was formed as KLA-Tencor Corporation in April 1997 through the merger of KLA Instruments and Tencor Instruments, which began operations in 1975 and 1976. Its services business, which provides maintenance and other services to maximize tool uptime, productivity and life, accounted for about 23% of total revenues in fiscal 2026.

KLA reports three segments. Semiconductor Process Control offers inspection, metrology, chemistry process control, in situ process management and software products, plus related services, covering chip, wafer, reticle and advanced packaging manufacturing from R&D to volume production. It also includes certified and remanufactured KLA Pro systems and general-purpose and lab instruments. Specialty Semiconductor Process develops and sells vacuum deposition, etch and plasma dicing tools for makers of MEMS, RF communication chips and power semiconductors for automotive and industrial uses. PCB and Component Inspection serves electronic device manufacturers with direct imaging, inspection, optical shaping, inkjet and additive printing, and computer-aided manufacturing and engineering solutions for PCBs and IC substrates. It also offers inspection and metrology systems for semiconductor packaging.

Customers are leading semiconductor, semiconductor-related and electronic device manufacturers in Asia, the U.S. and Europe, mainly in the memory and foundry/logic markets. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company accounted for more than 10% of total revenues in each of fiscal 2024 through 2026, primarily in Semiconductor Process Control. International revenues were about 87% of total revenues in fiscal 2026 and 89% in fiscal 2025 and 2024. Demand depends on customer capital spending and is cyclical rather than seasonal. Growth drivers cited include high-performance computing, data centers and AI, EUV adoption in logic and DRAM including high-bandwidth memory, 2-nanometer nodes, advanced packaging, 5G, healthcare, industrial applications and electric vehicles.

KLA sells mainly through a direct sales force, with direct sales, service and marketing organizations in Asia, the U.S. and Europe. It operates subsidiaries or branches in major semiconductor manufacturing regions and maintains an export compliance program. It invests heavily in R&D, with primary centers in the U.S., U.K., India, China, Singapore and Israel, focused on front-end semiconductor and advanced packaging solutions. The company cites its technology leadership, resulting from R&D investment, and the size and location of its field organizations as competitive strengths.