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KLA CORP

For the period ended Sep 30, 2025. Filed Oct 31, 2025.

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About this filing

A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.

Sep 30, 2025 · Filed Oct 31, 2025

KLAC$138.49+6.7%Stored close · as of Nov 6, 2026

What changed in Risk Factors?

Read the current filing

The baseline is this issuer’s latest earlier reporting period of the same form that was filed before the current report. A previous 10-Q is a different quarter, not a year-over-year comparison. Amendments are excluded.

Compared 237 previous paragraphs and 31 current paragraphs.

14 unchanged; 13 reworded; 3 added; 210 removed; 0 previous and 1 current paragraphs rearranged.

Tables are not compared: 1 previous and 1 current tables excluded. Dates, whitespace, punctuation and numbering changes are ignored; changes to financial figures remain significant.

A changed paragraph is not evidence that risk increased or decreased. An unchanged paragraph does not establish that risk stayed the same.

Added paragraphs (3)

Current report

Other than the risk factors listed below, there have been no material changes in our risk factors since our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. Refer to “Risk Factors” contained in Part I Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for our fiscal year ended June 30, 2025 for a complete description of our risk factors. Any of these risks, as well as risks unknown to us or that we believe are currently immaterial, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Current report

In September 2025, Commerce released an interim final rule that further expands export control restrictions and licensing requirements for foreign entities 50% or more directly or indirectly owned by one or more listed parties on the U.S. Entity List, Military End-User List, and certain entities on the Specially Designated Nationals and Block Persons (“SDN)” List, which Commerce has labeled the “Affiliates Rule”. The new rule increases compliance requirements with the EAR by imposing on exporters, re-exporters, and transferors of items subject to the EAR a responsibility to know the ownership of the parties to a transaction. The Affiliates Rule is effective immediately, though it is not yet considered final.

Current report

In addition, changes to U.S. tax laws will significantly impact how U.S. multinational corporations are taxed on U.S. and foreign earnings. On July 4, 2025, the enactment of the OBBBA provides for several permanent changes to the United States tax code including, among other items, modifying the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (“GILTI”) and Foreign-Derived Intangible Income (“FDII”) rules that were included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was enacted into law on December 22, 2017.
Removed paragraphs (210)

Previous report

A description of factors that could materially affect our business, financial condition or operating results is provided below.

Previous report

Risk Factors Summary

Previous report

The following summarizes the most material risks that make an investment in our securities risky or speculative. If any of the following risks occur or persist, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially harmed and the price of our common stock could significantly decline.

Previous report

Commercial, Operational, Financial and Regulatory Risks

Previous report

•Our vulnerability to a weakening in the condition of the financial markets and the global economy;

Previous report

•Risks related to our international operations;

Previous report

•Laws, rules, regulations or other orders that may limit our ability to sell our products or provide service on products previously sold to certain customers;

Previous report

•Risks related to recently announced tariffs;

Previous report

•IP disputes can be expensive and could result in an inability to sell our products in certain jurisdictions;

Previous report

•Increasing attention to ESG matters, including any targets or other ESG initiatives, could result in additional costs or risks or adversely impact our business;

Previous report

•We may be unable to attract, onboard and retain key personnel;

Previous report

•Reliance on third-party service providers could result in disruptions if such third parties cannot perform services for us in a timely manner;

Previous report

•Cybersecurity incidents could result in the loss of valuable information or assets or subject us to costly disruption, remediation, regulatory investigations, litigation and reputational damage;

Previous report

•We may face disruptions if we cannot access critical information in a timely manner due to system failures;

Previous report

•We may not find suitable acquisition candidates or fail to successfully integrate our acquisitions;

Previous report

•Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, acts of terrorism or war or other catastrophic events, and the lack of insurance thereof, could significantly disrupt our operations, including affecting the global supply chain, for lengthy periods of time;

Previous report

•We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and the market values of our portfolio investments;

Previous report

•We are subject to tax and regulatory compliance audits;

Previous report

•Economic, political or other conditions in the jurisdictions where we earn profits can impact the tax laws and taxes we pay in those jurisdictions, subsequently impacting our effective tax rate, cash flows and results of operations;

Previous report

•Increased compliance costs with federal securities laws, rules, and regulations, as well as NASDAQ requirements; and

Previous report

•Changes in accounting pronouncements and laws could have unforeseen effects.

Previous report

Industry Risks

Previous report

•We may not be able to keep pace with trends and technological changes in the industries in which we operate;

Previous report

•We have a highly concentrated customer base;

Previous report

•Prevailing local and global economic conditions may negatively affect the purchasing decisions of our customers; and

Previous report

•We are exposed to risks related to the use of AI by us and our competitors.

Previous report

Business Model and Capital Structure Risks

Previous report

•We may not be able to maintain our technology advantage or protect our proprietary rights;

Previous report

•We may not be able to compete with new products introduced by our competitors;

Previous report

•We may not receive components necessary to build our products in a timely manner;

Previous report

•We may fail to operate our business in a manner consistent with our business plan;

Previous report

•We may fail to comply with the covenants in our Revolving Credit Facility and Senior Notes, which could impair our ability to borrow needed funds, or require us to repay debt sooner than we planned;

Previous report

•We may not have sufficient financial resources to repay our indebtedness when it becomes due, and our leveraged capital structure may divert resources from operations and other corporate uses;

Previous report

•We may not be able to declare cash dividends at all or in any particular amounts;

Previous report

•Risks related to our commercial terms and conditions, including our indemnification of third parties, as well as the performance of our products;

Previous report

•Our government funding for R&D is subject to termination, audit and any further penalties;

Previous report

•We may incur significant restructuring charges or other asset impairment charges or inventory write-offs;

Previous report

•We are subject to risks related to receivables factoring arrangements, and compliance risk of certain settlement agreements with the government; and

Previous report

•Our Amended and Restated Bylaws (“Bylaws”) designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole forum for certain actions, which may discourage claims against the Company.

Previous report

For a more complete discussion of the material risks facing our business, see below.

Showing the first 40 of 210 passages. Open the source sections for the rest.

Reworded paragraphs (13)

Previous wording

Over the past several years, there have been a variety of rules and regulations issued by BIS that have had an impact on our ability to sell certain products and provide certain services to certain customers in China. These rules and regulations may significantly harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows in future periods, unless we are able to obtain required licenses.

Current wording

Over the past several years, there have been a variety of rules and regulations issued by Commerce that have had an impact on our ability to sell certain products and provide certain services to certain customers in China. These rules and regulations may significantly harm our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows in future periods, unless we are able to obtain required licenses.

Previous wording

We maintain significant operations outside the United States, and existing and evolving trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. and other governments could significantly disrupt our global operations. The U.S. government has tightened export controls for commodities, software, and technology (collectively, “items”) destined to China over the past several years. These controls have included, for example, restrictions on exporting certain items to military end users and for military end uses, the addition of numerous entities to the U.S. Entity List (a list of parties that are generally ineligible to receive U.S.-regulated items without prior licensing from BIS), and the creation of new licensing requirements that apply to the export, re-export, and transfer of certain foreign-made items that are the direct product of U.S. origin technology or produced by a plant or major component of a plant that itself is the direct product of U.S. origin technology and which are destined to Huawei or its affiliates and other specified companies on the U.S. Entity List, and other facilities in China where the production of advanced node IC occurs.

Current wording

We maintain significant operations outside the United States, and existing and evolving trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. and other governments could significantly disrupt our global operations. The U.S. government has tightened export controls for commodities, software, and technology (collectively, “items”) destined to China over the past several years. These controls have included, for example, restrictions on exporting certain items to military end users and for military end uses, the addition of numerous entities to the U.S. Entity List (a list of parties that are generally ineligible to receive U.S.-regulated items without prior licensing from Commerce), and the creation of new licensing requirements that apply to the export, re-export, and transfer of certain foreign-made items that are the direct product of U.S. origin technology or produced by a plant or major component of a plant that itself is the direct product of U.S. origin technology and which are destined to Huawei or its affiliates and other specified companies on the U.S. Entity List, and other facilities in China where the production of advanced node IC occurs.

Previous wording

In October 2022, BIS published the 2022 BIS Rules that introduce restrictions related to semiconductor, semiconductor manufacturing, supercomputer, and advanced computing items and end uses. These rules impose restrictions on our ability to sell, ship and support certain equipment and otherwise conduct business with certain counterparties, primarily including China-based companies involved in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Further, the 2022 BIS Rules impose restrictions on the activities of U.S. persons with respect to certain items that are not subject to the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), which departs from BIS’ typical practice of controlling items that are subject to the EAR, and could further restrict our ability to conduct business in China. In October 2023, BIS issued the 2023 BIS Rules designed to update export controls on advanced computing semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as well as items that support supercomputing applications and end-uses, to certain D1, D4 and/or D5 countries in Supplement No. 1 of Part 740 of the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, including China. The 2023 BIS Rules adjust the parameters included in the 2022 BIS Rules that determine whether an advanced computing chip is restricted and impose new measures to address risks of circumvention of the controls established by the 2022 BIS Rules. The 2023 BIS Rules are very complex and, in January 2024, KLA, among other companies, submitted comments to BIS on the 2023 BIS Rules. BIS could revise or expand the 2023 BIS Rules in response to public comments. Likewise, BIS may issue guidance clarifying the scope of the rules. Such revisions, expansions or guidance could change the impact of the rules for our business.

Current wording

In October 2022, Commerce published the 2022 BIS Rules (the “2022 BIS Rules”) that introduced restrictions related to semiconductor, semiconductor manufacturing, supercomputer, and advanced computing items and end uses. These rules impose restrictions on our ability to sell, ship and support certain equipment and otherwise conduct business with certain counterparties, primarily including China-based companies involved in advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Further, the 2022 BIS Rules impose restrictions on the activities of U.S. persons with respect to certain items that are not subject to the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), which departs from Commerce’s typical practice of controlling items that are subject to the EAR, and could further restrict our ability to conduct business in China. In October 2023, Commerce issued the 2023 BIS Rules (the “2023 BIS Rules”) designed to update export controls on advanced computing semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as well as items that support supercomputing applications and end-uses, to certain D1, D4 and/or D5 countries in Supplement No. 1 of Part 740 of the U.S. EAR, including China. The 2023 BIS Rules adjust the parameters included in the 2022 BIS Rules that determine whether an advanced computing chip is restricted and impose new measures to address risks of circumvention of the controls established by the 2022 BIS Rules.

Previous wording

In December 2024 and January 2025, the BIS again issued incremental 2024 BIS Rules and 2025 BIS Rules, adding even more companies to the U.S. Entity List and revising the definition of advanced DRAM, further restricting our ability to provide certain items and services to facilities in China producing advanced DRAM ICs. BIS may continue to add China-based entities to the U.S. Entity List and impose other end use or end user export restrictions, which could disrupt or prevent our product shipment, and further disrupt our revenue recognition, business operations and our ability to support our customers in China.

Current wording

In December 2024 and January 2025, Commerce again issued incremental 2024 BIS Rules and 2025 BIS Rules, adding even more companies to the U.S. Entity List and revising the definition of advanced DRAM, further restricting our ability to provide certain items and services to facilities in China producing advanced DRAM ICs.

Previous wording

These rules and regulations may significantly harm our business unless we are able to obtain required licenses. We will continue to apply for export licenses, when required, in an effort to avoid disruption to our and our customers’ operations, but there can be no assurance that export licenses applied for by either us or our customers, now or in the future, will be granted. To the extent BIS does issue licenses to us or to our customers, such licenses may have a short duration or require us to satisfy various conditions. If pending and future export license applications are not granted, or additional restrictions are imposed, or if regulators adopt new interpretations of existing regulations, the potential impact on us could be material by disrupting our supply chain and product shipment, impairing our ability to complete product development in a timely manner, or our ability to support existing customers of covered products or supply customers of covered products outside the impacted regions, and requiring us to transition certain operations out of one or more of the identified countries. Failure to obtain export licenses have harmed and could continue to harm our RPO, requiring us to return substantial deposits received from customers in China for purchase orders, and/or further limiting our ability to meet our contractual obligations and sell our products or provide services to our customers in China.

Current wording

These rules and regulations may significantly harm our business unless we are able to obtain required licenses. We will continue to apply for export licenses, when required, in an effort to avoid disruption to our and our customers’ operations, but there can be no assurance that export licenses applied for by either us or our customers, now or in the future, will be granted. To the extent Commerce does issue licenses to us or to our customers, such licenses may have a short duration or require us to satisfy various conditions. If pending and future export license applications are not granted, or additional restrictions are imposed, or if regulators adopt new interpretations of existing regulations, the potential impact on us could be material by disrupting our supply chain and product shipment, impairing our ability to complete product development in a timely manner, or our ability to support existing customers of covered products or supply customers of covered products outside the impacted regions, and requiring us to transition certain operations out of one or more of the identified countries. Failure to obtain export licenses has harmed and could continue to harm our backlog, requiring us to return substantial deposits received from customers in China for purchase orders, and/or further limiting our ability to meet our contractual obligations and sell our products or provide services to our customers in China. In addition, the U.S. export restrictions on semiconductors and semiconductor technology to China and Chinese customers may reduce the need for our products and make it easier for our China-based competitors to develop and sell their own products and take market share from us.

Previous wording

We may lose revenue in future periods related to anticipated sales to customers in China unless we are able to replace their orders with other customer orders for which either a license has been obtained or is not required. Our revenue from sales of products and provision of services to customers in China was 43%, 27% and 29% for fiscal years 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and future revenue from China as a percentage of our overall revenue may decline as a result of the current and future BIS rules and regulations.

Current wording

We may lose revenue in future periods related to anticipated sales to customers in China unless we are able to replace their orders with other customer orders for which either an export license has been obtained or is not required. Our revenue from sales of products and provision of services to customers in China was 33%, 43% and 27% for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and future revenue from China as a percentage of our overall revenue may decline as a result of the current and future Commerce rules and regulations.

Previous wording

Additionally, the Chinese government has adopted, and may further adopt, new regulations, in response to U.S. government actions, which could adversely affect our ability to do business in China. For example, in April 2025, the Chinese government imposed new export controls on a range of critical rare earth minerals, which may have an adverse impact on our supply chain's ability to source the materials necessary to manufacture our products.

Current wording

Additionally, the Chinese government has adopted, and may further adopt, new regulations, in response to U.S. government actions, which could adversely affect our ability to do business in China.

Previous wording

We have controls and procedures designed to maintain compliance with U.S. and other applicable export control laws and regulations; however, we cannot guarantee that such controls and procedures will be successful in preventing violations or allegations of violations, of increasingly complex and often conflicting regulations worldwide. The complexity and evolving nature of the rules and regulations, and the fact that BIS or other relevant regulators might adopt interpretations of regulations that differ from those of the Company, increase our risk of non-compliance.

Current wording

We have controls and procedures designed to maintain compliance with U.S. and other applicable export control laws and regulations; however, we cannot guarantee that such controls and procedures will be successful in preventing violations or allegations of violations, of increasingly complex and often conflicting regulations worldwide. The complexity and evolving nature of the rules and regulations, and the fact that Commerce or other relevant regulators might adopt interpretations of regulations that differ from those of the Company, increase our risk of non-compliance.

Previous wording

The Tax Act also provides that a percentage of foreign earnings under the Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (“GILTI”) regime is taxable in the U.S. and a percentage of U.S. earnings under the Foreign Derived Intangible Income (“FDII”) regime is not subject to tax in the U.S. For tax years beginning on January 1, 2026, the percentage of GILTI that is taxable in the U.S. increases from 50% to 62.5% and the percentage of FDII not subject to tax in the U.S. decreases from 37.5% to 21.875%. The change in GILTI and FDII percentages can have a material and adverse impact to our effective tax rate beginning in the quarter ending September 30, 2026.

Current wording

The OBBBA renames GILTI to Net Controlled Foreign Corporation (“CFC”) Tested Income (“NCTI”) and modifies the percentage of foreign earnings under the GILTI regime that is taxable in the U.S. from 50% to 40% for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. It also renames FDII to Foreign-Derived Deduction Eligible Income (“FDDEI”) and modifies the percentage of U.S. earnings under the FDII regime that is not subject to tax in the U.S. from 37.5% to 33.34% for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025. The net impact of the changes provided by the OBBBA and interpretations of such law may have a material and adverse impact to our effective tax rate.

Previous wording

On August 16, 2022, the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act introduced a corporate alternative minimum tax (“CAMT”) that is effective for us beginning in the quarter ended September 30, 2023. The CAMT applies a 15% minimum income tax rate on certain large corporations. We are not expecting to have any effective tax rate impact from the CAMT but changes to U.S. tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws may result in CAMT liability which can have a material and adverse impact to our future effective tax rates.

Current wording

On August 16, 2022, the enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”) introduced a corporate alternative minimum tax (“CAMT”) that was effective for us beginning in the quarter ended September 30, 2023. The CAMT applies a 15% minimum income tax rate on certain large corporations. Although we were not subject to the CAMT in our fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, the enactment of the OBBBA and interpretations of such law may result in our subjection to CAMT liability in future periods, which can have a material and adverse impact to our future effective tax rate.

Previous wording

Numerous countries are evaluating their existing tax laws due in part, to recommendations made by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (“OECD”) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) project. The OECD continues to advance its work under the BEPS 2.0 initiative to develop the framework for Pillar Two - which aims to implement a global minimum tax of 15%. Many countries have enacted or drafted legislation using the Pillar Two framework to propose domestic tax laws requiring a minimum tax rate of 15% (“top-up tax”) on income earned in the respective countries. New legislation and additional guidance to be issued by the OECD and the various jurisdictions around the world can have a material and adverse impact to our future effective tax rates.

Current wording

Numerous countries are evaluating their existing tax laws due, in part, to recommendations made by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (“OECD”) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (“BEPS”) project. The OECD continues to advance its work under the BEPS 2.0 initiative to develop the framework for Pillar Two, which aims to implement a global minimum tax of 15%. Many countries have enacted or drafted legislation using the Pillar Two framework to propose domestic tax laws requiring a minimum tax rate of 15% (“top-up tax”) on income earned in the respective countries. One country that has adopted Pillar Two legislation is Singapore, where KLA earns significant profits and currently benefits from tax incentives granted by the Singapore Economic Development Board. The tax liability from top-up tax may have a material and adverse impact to our effective tax rate beginning in the quarter ending September 30, 2026.

Previous wording

We use a wide range of materials in the production of our products, including custom electronic and mechanical components, and we use numerous suppliers to supply these materials. Generally, we do not have guaranteed supply arrangements with our suppliers. Because of the variability and uniqueness of customers’ orders, we do not maintain an extensive inventory of materials for manufacturing. Through our business interruption planning, we seek to minimize the risk of production and service interruptions and/or shortages of key parts by, among other things, monitoring the financial stability of key suppliers, identifying (but not necessarily qualifying) possible alternative suppliers and maintaining appropriate inventories of key parts. Although we make reasonable efforts to ensure that parts are available from multiple suppliers, certain key parts are available only from a single supplier or a limited group of suppliers. Also, key parts we obtain from some of our suppliers incorporate the suppliers’ proprietary IP; in those cases, we are increasingly reliant on third parties for high-performance, high-technology components, which reduces the amount of control we have over the availability and protection of the technology and IP that is used in our products. In addition, if certain of our key suppliers experience liquidity issues and are forced to discontinue operations, which is a heightened risk, especially during economic downturns, it could affect their ability to deliver parts and could result in delays for our products. Similarly, especially with respect to suppliers of high-technology components, our suppliers themselves have increasingly complex supply chains, and delays or disruptions at any stage of their supply chains may prevent us from obtaining parts in a timely manner and result in delays for our products, or our suppliers might pass on the cost of inflation to us while we are unable to adjust pricing with our own customers. Our operating results and business may be adversely impacted if we are unable to obtain parts to meet our production requirements and product specifications, or if we are able to do so only on unfavorable terms. Furthermore, a supplier may discontinue production of a particular part for any number of reasons, including the supplier’s financial condition or business operational decisions, which would require us to purchase, in a single transaction, a large number of such discontinued parts in order to ensure that a continuous supply of such parts remains available to our customers. Such “end-of-life” parts purchases could result in significant expenditures by us in a particular period, and, ultimately, any unused parts may result in a significant inventory write-off, either of which could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations for the applicable periods.

Current wording

We use a wide range of materials in the production of our products, including custom electronic and mechanical components, and we use numerous suppliers to supply these materials. Generally, we do not have guaranteed supply arrangements with our suppliers. Because of the variability and uniqueness of customers’ orders, we do not maintain an extensive inventory of materials for manufacturing. Through our business interruption planning, we seek to minimize the risk of production and service interruptions and/or shortages of key parts by, among other things, monitoring the financial stability of key suppliers, identifying (but not necessarily qualifying) possible alternative suppliers and maintaining appropriate inventories of key parts. Although we make reasonable efforts to ensure that parts are available from multiple suppliers, certain key parts are available only from a single supplier or a limited group of suppliers. Also, key parts we obtain from some of our suppliers incorporate the suppliers’ proprietary IP; in those cases, we are increasingly reliant on third parties for high-performance, high-technology components, which reduces the amount of control we have over the availability and protection of the technology and IP that is used in our products. In addition, if certain of our key suppliers experience liquidity issues and are forced to discontinue operations, which is a heightened risk, especially during economic downturns, it could affect their ability to deliver parts and could result in delays for our products. Similarly, especially with respect to suppliers of high-technology components, our suppliers themselves have increasingly complex supply chains, and delays or disruptions at any stage of their supply chains may prevent us from obtaining parts in a timely manner and result in delays for our products, or our suppliers might pass on the cost of inflation to us while we are unable to adjust pricing with our own customers. In April 2025, the Chinese government imposed export controls on seven of the seventeen elements classified as rare earth elements. In October 2025, the Chinese government imposed additional restrictions and licensing requirements on certain rare earth elements, some of which became effective immediately on the announcement date and other portions of the regulations become effective in November 2025. The Chinese government imposed export controls on an additional five rare earth elements and certain license requirements for items made outside of China that incorporate controlled rare earth elements. It is estimated that China controls about 70% of the worldwide mining of rare earth elements, 90% of the separation and processing of those elements and 93% of the magnets manufactured from those elements. Rare earth elements are critical to certain components contained in our products. If our suppliers are unable to provide the components necessary to make our products because of restrictions placed on their access t…

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Previous wording

(1)Our Board of Directors has authorized a program that permits us to repurchase our common stock, including a $2.00 billion increase approved by the Board in the first quarter of fiscal 2024. As of March 31, 2025, $456.7 million remained available for repurchases under our repurchase program. All shares in the table were purchased pursuant to our publicly announced repurchase program.

Current wording

(1)Our Board of Directors has authorized a program that permits us to repurchase our common stock, including a $5.00 billion increase approved by the Board in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. As of September 30, 2025, $4.47 billion remained available for repurchases under our repurchase program. All shares in the table were purchased pursuant to our publicly announced repurchase program.
Rearranged current paragraphs (1)

Current report — wording carried from elsewhere

Commerce may continue to add China-based entities to the U.S. Entity List and impose other end use or end user export restrictions, which could disrupt or prevent our product shipment, and further disrupt our revenue recognition, business operations and our ability to support our customers in China.