KLA Said It Got 'Clarification' on US Chip Controls
U.S. semiconductor company KLA “received clarification” from the U.S. government on matters surrounding chip export controls on China and can “now resume some shipments that we had previously excluded,” the company said as part of its latest earnings report released last week.
KLA last year said it was preparing for up to a $900 million revenue hit in 2023 and was looking at moving its products to customers not subject to the restrictions until it received clearer guidance from the Bureau of Industry and Security on the agency's October export controls (see 2210270018 and 2210070049). But the firm said this week that it's “seeing higher than initially expected investment from legacy customers globally, including in China.”
Asked during an earnings call how other multinational companies operating in China are assessing the export controls, including how they’re determining “future capacity expansions” in the country, KLA CEO Rick Wallace said the whole industry is working through similar issues. “It was hard enough for us to get the clarification. I think for them, they're working on the same thing, which is getting clarification on exactly what they'll be able to do,” he said.
“They have conversations with us, but frankly, the discussions they're having that matter the most to them are not with us,” he said. “I think that's something they're all working through.”
KLA reported $2.43 billion in total revenue for the FY 2023 third quarter that ended March 31, which was “above the midpoint of the guidance ranges." The company also forecast revenue between $2.125 billion and $2.375 billion for the current quarter.