KLA Corporation Delivers Record-Breaking Quarter with Unprecedented Growth Ahead
KLA Corporation has announced a record-breaking quarter in its September 2026 earnings report, exceeding guidance ranges across all key metrics. Revenue reached an impressive $4.14 billion, marking another milestone in the company's continued growth trajectory.
CEO Rick Wallace attributed this success to the strength of KLA's leading-edge foundry logic, which has seen significant investments from AI infrastructure and increasing process control intensity across leading-edge devices and advanced packaging. This trend is expected to continue into the December quarter, with momentum maintained throughout calendar 2027.
"We see a more favorable outlook for wafer equipment investment for calendar 2026 and 2027," said Wallace during the earnings call. "Our strong customer engagement has provided visibility into this growth, which we expect to deliver significant results in the coming year."
Notably, KLA's operating margins reached an all-time high of above 46%, with gross margin at 62.7% and free cash flow at $1.34 billion. The company's process control portfolio has been instrumental in addressing growing requirements across a range of applications, particularly in advanced packaging.
Advanced packaging revenue is on track to hit approximately $1.1 billion for calendar 2026, with more than 70% year-over-year growth and nearly twice the growth rate of the advanced packaging market. This reflects the increasing criticality of advanced packaging to AI infrastructure expansion.
KLA's services revenue also saw a significant increase, reaching $850 million in the quarter – a 14% year-over-year growth supported by a growing installed base and continued customer focus on tool performance, productivity, and availability.
The company's process, PCB, and component inspection businesses are benefiting from technology transitions and rigorous performance requirements of high-performance computing. KLA's strategy to proactively work with strategic supply chain partners has also ensured capacity increases to meet demand.
