While KLA will continue to realize solid revenue and earnings gains, the long-term rate of growth will likely be somewhat slower than in recent years, and earnings will be sensitive to the cyclical swings of the semiconductor industry. Still, the shares are an attractive holding for aggressive investors. Yield monitoring systems will remain one of the fastest-growing segments of the semiconductor capital equipment industry, because of the cost savings they can provide to chip manufacturers. Beta 2.37 Shareholders 1,200 Market cap. The company is a leading manufacturer of yield management and process monitoring systems for the semiconductor industry.
Higher yields increase revenues obtained for each semiconductor wafer processed.
As IC linewidths decrease, yields become more sensitive to the size and density of defects. The company's systems are used to improve yields by identifying defects, analyzing them to determine process problems, and, after corrective action has been taken, by monitoring subsequent results to ensure that the problem has been contained. Monitoring and analysis often takes place at several points in the fabrication process, as wafers move through a production cycle consisting of hundreds of processing steps. The Metrology division's products measure the widths of circuit lines and the alignment of patterns from layer to layer in the process. The optical metrology product line is known as the KLA 5000 series.