KLA (KLAC)
Supplies inspection and metrology systems that help chipmakers detect defects and improve yields.
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KLA makes the inspection and measurement machines that chip factories use to catch tiny manufacturing mistakes before they become expensive waste. Nearly half the business rests on finding flaws in silicon discs, while upkeep contracts add a steadier stream of cash. Faster-growing packaging tools broaden the opportunity, but the company still hangs on a small set of huge chipmakers and on getting scarce parts into complex machines.
Item facts: FY2026 · year ended Jun 30, 2026, from filings, earnings calls and company pages.
Judgment weights, not filed revenue
The band summarizes business focus and direction. ~ marks estimates.
6 in detail · 6 more below
Wafer Inspection
Machines that spot flaws on thin silicon discs before factories repeat them across thousands of chips. It is KLA's largest engine; TSMC alone supplied about 19% of company sales, making one giant buyer a clear watchpoint.
Competes with Vera and Enlight with SEMVision (Applied Materials) · HMI eScan (ASML) · DI2800 (Hitachi High-Tech) · Dragonfly G3 (Onto Innovation)
In plain English
A chip begins as a thin silicon disc called a wafer. KLA's inspection machines sweep across that surface and find scratches, stray particles and other tiny flaws before a factory copies the mistake into many finished chips — much like checking a printing plate before running thousands of pages.
Chip factories buy these large machines as they add production or make designs harder to build. KLA gets paid when a machine ships and passes the buyer's checks; demand rises when each costly production step leaves less room for error.
Advanced Packaging
Machines that inspect and shape the stacks joining several chips and fast memory into one package. Management expects about $1.1B of calendar-2026 sales from the core tools alone. KLA's companywide $12.57B order queue makes delivery capacity the watchpoint.
Competes with Dragonfly G3 (Onto Innovation) · Eagle G5 and Hawk (Camtek)
In plain English
Instead of building one giant chip, manufacturers can join several smaller chips and stacks of fast memory inside one package. Every piece and connection must line up, so KLA sells machines that inspect, measure and shape the discs, cut pieces and base layers before they are joined.
Chip factories, assembly specialists and makers of the supporting base layers pay for these systems as they expand packaging lines. KLA earns on the machines it delivers. The attraction is simple: more pieces inside one package create more places where a defect can ruin an expensive finished part.
Services
Repairs, spare parts, upgrades, software help and training for machines already inside customer factories. Roughly four out of five service dollars were tied to contracts, giving this cyclical equipment maker a steadier cash engine.
Competes with Applied Global Services (Applied Materials) · Customer Support (ASML)
In plain English
The unglamorous part that keeps the machines earning their floor space. KLA technicians repair tools, replace worn parts, install improvements, help with software and teach factory teams how to use the equipment.
Customers pay because a stopped inspection machine can hold up a costly production line. Many sign coverage agreements, while others buy parts or help when needed. As KLA places more machines in factories, there are more machines to care for; how hard customers run them and whether they renew coverage decide how quickly this stream grows.
Patterning
Machines that check whether each printed chip layer lands in the right place and has the right shape and thickness. June-quarter sales recovered to $728M after a March dip; new production methods set the pace.
Competes with YieldStar 1390 (ASML) · Atlas V (Onto Innovation) · MATRICS X9ULTRA (Lasertec)
In plain English
Picture building a tiny city by stacking transparent maps. If one map shifts, every road above it can miss. KLA's patterning tools check that each newly printed chip layer sits exactly over the last, that lines have the intended width, that coatings have the right thickness and that the printing stencil is clean.
Chip factories and stencil makers buy a separate machine for each kind of check. KLA is paid as those systems are delivered. Customers add more when finer designs and new printing methods make small alignment errors costlier.
Specialty Semiconductor Process
Equipment that carves material away, lays new material down and heat-treats specialized chips. The line produced $502.5M in FY2026; spending by sensor, power-chip and packaging factories is the swing factor.
Competes with VERSALINE (Plasma-Therm) · PlasmaPro 100 Estrelas (Oxford Instruments)
In plain English
Here KLA helps make chips, rather than only checking them. These machines carve tiny shapes into a silicon disc, coat it with thin layers and treat it with heat. They serve factories making motion sensors, power-handling chips, radio parts, small lights and packaged chips — smaller niches with their own production recipes.
A factory pays for a system when it adds capacity or changes a recipe. KLA earns when the equipment is installed and accepted. This business therefore rises and falls with expansion by specialty factories, especially those using established disc sizes.
PCB and Component Inspection
Machines for drawing, checking and repairing the boards that connect electronic parts, plus inspection of packaged chips. Revenue grew 29.3% from a small base to $460.3M; electronics and base-layer factory spending drives the next move.
Competes with MDI-Ultra (Schmoll Maschinen) · Eagle G5 (Camtek)
In plain English
A printed circuit board is the flat base whose copper paths connect the parts inside electronics. KLA sells equipment that draws those paths, photographs them to find breaks, repairs certain faults and prints added material. It also checks chips after they have been enclosed in protective packages.
Board, base-layer and packaged-part factories buy the machines directly and qualify them for their production lines. KLA is paid for delivered systems and local support. Orders grow when electronics makers need denser boards or more packaged parts, but can pause when factories are working through excess stock.
Wafer InspectionMachines that spot flaws on thin silicon discs before factories repeat them across thousands of chips. It is KLA's largest engine; TSMC alone supplied about 19% of company sales, making one giant buyer a clear watchpoint.Machines that spot flaws on thin silicon discs before factories repeat them across thousands of chips. It is KLA's largest engine; TSMC alone supplied about 19% of company sales, making one giant buyer a clear watchpoint.
In plain English
A chip begins as a thin silicon disc called a wafer. KLA's inspection machines sweep across that surface and find scratches, stray particles and other tiny flaws before a factory copies the mistake into many finished chips — much like checking a printing plate before running thousands of pages.
Chip factories buy these large machines as they add production or make designs harder to build. KLA gets paid when a machine ships and passes the buyer's checks; demand rises when each costly production step leaves less room for error.
Competes with Vera and Enlight with SEMVision (Applied Materials) · HMI eScan (ASML) · DI2800 (Hitachi High-Tech) · Dragonfly G3 (Onto Innovation)
Advanced PackagingMachines that inspect and shape the stacks joining several chips and fast memory into one package. Management expects about $1.1B of calendar-2026 sales from the core tools alone. KLA's companywide $12.57B order queue makes delivery capacity the watchpoint.Machines that inspect and shape the stacks joining several chips and fast memory into one package. Management expects about $1.1B of calendar-2026 sales from the core tools alone. KLA's companywide $12.57B order queue makes delivery capacity the watchpoint.
In plain English
Instead of building one giant chip, manufacturers can join several smaller chips and stacks of fast memory inside one package. Every piece and connection must line up, so KLA sells machines that inspect, measure and shape the discs, cut pieces and base layers before they are joined.
Chip factories, assembly specialists and makers of the supporting base layers pay for these systems as they expand packaging lines. KLA earns on the machines it delivers. The attraction is simple: more pieces inside one package create more places where a defect can ruin an expensive finished part.
Competes with Dragonfly G3 (Onto Innovation) · Eagle G5 and Hawk (Camtek)
ServicesRepairs, spare parts, upgrades, software help and training for machines already inside customer factories. Roughly four out of five service dollars were tied to contracts, giving this cyclical equipment maker a steadier cash engine.Repairs, spare parts, upgrades, software help and training for machines already inside customer factories. Roughly four out of five service dollars were tied to contracts, giving this cyclical equipment maker a steadier cash engine.
In plain English
The unglamorous part that keeps the machines earning their floor space. KLA technicians repair tools, replace worn parts, install improvements, help with software and teach factory teams how to use the equipment.
Customers pay because a stopped inspection machine can hold up a costly production line. Many sign coverage agreements, while others buy parts or help when needed. As KLA places more machines in factories, there are more machines to care for; how hard customers run them and whether they renew coverage decide how quickly this stream grows.
Competes with Applied Global Services (Applied Materials) · Customer Support (ASML)
PatterningMachines that check whether each printed chip layer lands in the right place and has the right shape and thickness. June-quarter sales recovered to $728M after a March dip; new production methods set the pace.Machines that check whether each printed chip layer lands in the right place and has the right shape and thickness. June-quarter sales recovered to $728M after a March dip; new production methods set the pace.
In plain English
Picture building a tiny city by stacking transparent maps. If one map shifts, every road above it can miss. KLA's patterning tools check that each newly printed chip layer sits exactly over the last, that lines have the intended width, that coatings have the right thickness and that the printing stencil is clean.
Chip factories and stencil makers buy a separate machine for each kind of check. KLA is paid as those systems are delivered. Customers add more when finer designs and new printing methods make small alignment errors costlier.
Competes with YieldStar 1390 (ASML) · Atlas V (Onto Innovation) · MATRICS X9ULTRA (Lasertec)
Specialty Semiconductor ProcessEquipment that carves material away, lays new material down and heat-treats specialized chips. The line produced $502.5M in FY2026; spending by sensor, power-chip and packaging factories is the swing factor.Equipment that carves material away, lays new material down and heat-treats specialized chips. The line produced $502.5M in FY2026; spending by sensor, power-chip and packaging factories is the swing factor.
In plain English
Here KLA helps make chips, rather than only checking them. These machines carve tiny shapes into a silicon disc, coat it with thin layers and treat it with heat. They serve factories making motion sensors, power-handling chips, radio parts, small lights and packaged chips — smaller niches with their own production recipes.
A factory pays for a system when it adds capacity or changes a recipe. KLA earns when the equipment is installed and accepted. This business therefore rises and falls with expansion by specialty factories, especially those using established disc sizes.
Competes with VERSALINE (Plasma-Therm) · PlasmaPro 100 Estrelas (Oxford Instruments)
PCB and Component InspectionMachines for drawing, checking and repairing the boards that connect electronic parts, plus inspection of packaged chips. Revenue grew 29.3% from a small base to $460.3M; electronics and base-layer factory spending drives the next move.Machines for drawing, checking and repairing the boards that connect electronic parts, plus inspection of packaged chips. Revenue grew 29.3% from a small base to $460.3M; electronics and base-layer factory spending drives the next move.
In plain English
A printed circuit board is the flat base whose copper paths connect the parts inside electronics. KLA sells equipment that draws those paths, photographs them to find breaks, repairs certain faults and prints added material. It also checks chips after they have been enclosed in protective packages.
Board, base-layer and packaged-part factories buy the machines directly and qualify them for their production lines. KLA is paid for delivered systems and local support. Orders grow when electronics makers need denser boards or more packaged parts, but can pause when factories are working through excess stock.
Competes with MDI-Ultra (Schmoll Maschinen) · Eagle G5 (Camtek)
Named in filings, launches and programs
- Semiconductor Software SolutionsPlatformKlarity, OVALiS and related programs turn readings from factory tools into decisions about where a chipmaking process needs correction.
- Chemistry Process ControlProduct lineQualiSurf, Quali-Line and QualiLab systems watch the purity and condition of chemicals used while chips are made.
- SensArray product familyProduct lineSensor-filled silicon discs travel through production machines to measure the conditions that ordinary chips would experience.
- KLA Pro SystemsServiceRefurbished inspection and measurement machines give customers access to older KLA tool generations.
- General Purpose/Lab ApplicationsProduct lineSmaller tools measure surface shape, coating thickness, hardness and other properties for research and lower-volume work.
- Qnity Surfscan SP7XP installationCustomer programQnity installed a Surfscan machine in August to inspect materials for newer chipmaking processes; no contract value was disclosed.
Semiconductor Software SolutionsPlatform
Klarity, OVALiS and related programs turn readings from factory tools into decisions about where a chipmaking process needs correction.
Chemistry Process ControlProduct line
QualiSurf, Quali-Line and QualiLab systems watch the purity and condition of chemicals used while chips are made.
SensArray product familyProduct line
Sensor-filled silicon discs travel through production machines to measure the conditions that ordinary chips would experience.
KLA Pro SystemsService
Refurbished inspection and measurement machines give customers access to older KLA tool generations.
General Purpose/Lab ApplicationsProduct line
Smaller tools measure surface shape, coating thickness, hardness and other properties for research and lower-volume work.
Qnity Surfscan SP7XP installationCustomer program
Qnity installed a Surfscan machine in August to inspect materials for newer chipmaking processes; no contract value was disclosed.