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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
    ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024  
OR
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
For the transition period from                  to                    .
 
Commission File No. 000-00121
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Pennsylvania23-1498399
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)(IRS Employer Identification No.)

23A Serangoon North Avenue 5, #01-01, Singapore 554369
1005 Virginia Dr., Fort Washington, PA 19034
(Address of Principal Executive Offices and Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (215) 784-6000
N/A
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, Without Par ValueKLICThe Nasdaq Global Market

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes ☒  No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.
Yes ☐ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes ☒ No ☐



Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer
Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting company
Emerging growth company
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.  
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes  No ☒
As of March 30, 2024, the aggregate market value of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $2,808.4 million based on the closing sale price as reported on The Nasdaq Global Market (reference is made to Part II, Item 5 herein for a statement of assumptions upon which this calculation is based).
As of November 11, 2024, there were 53,871,256 shares of the registrant's common stock, without par value, outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference
The information required by Part III of this Annual Report, to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated herein by reference from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held in 2025, which definitive proxy statement shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this Annual Report relates.
 








KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K
September 28, 2024
 Index 
 Page Number
 Part I 
Item 1.Business
Item 1A.Risk Factors
Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments
Item 1C.Cybersecurity
Item 2.Properties
Item 3.Legal Proceedings
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures
Part II
Item 5.Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Item 6.[Reserved]
Item 7.Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Item 8.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Item 9.Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
Item 9A.Controls and Procedures
Item 9B.Other Information
Item 9C.Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspection
Part III
Item 10.Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Item 11.Executive Compensation
Item 12.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
Item 13.Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence
Item 14.Principal Accountant Fees and Services
Part IV
Item 15.Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
Item 16.Form 10-K Summary
Signatures

Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024 (the “Annual Report” or “Form 10-K”), including logos, artwork and other visual displays, may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate in any way that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names.


PART I

Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical information, this filing contains statements relating to future events or our future results. These statements are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by statute. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to our future revenue increasing, continuing or strengthening, or decreasing or weakening; our capital allocation strategies, including any share repurchases; demand for our products, including replacement demand; our research and development efforts; our ability to identify and realize new growth opportunities; our ability to successfully execute our business; our ability to control costs; our expectations regarding our wind down activities related to Project W and the impact of the cancellation of Project W on our results of operations and financial condition; and our operational flexibility as a result of (among other factors):
our expectations regarding the potential impacts on our business of actual or potential inflationary pressures, interest rate and risk premium adjustments, falling consumer sentiment, or economic recession caused, directly or indirectly, by the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, the prolonged Ukraine/Russia conflict, geopolitical tensions and other macroeconomic factors;
our expectations regarding supply chain disruptions caused, directly or indirectly, by various macroeconomic events, including geopolitical tensions, catastrophic events resulting from climate change or other natural disasters and other factors;
our expectations regarding our effective tax rate and our unrecognized tax benefit;
our ability to operate our business in accordance with our business plan;
our ability to adequately protect our trade secrets and intellectual property rights from misappropriation;
our expectations regarding our success in integrating companies we may acquire with our business, and our ability to continue to acquire or divest companies;
risks inherent in doing business on an international level, including currency risks, regulatory requirements, systems and cybersecurity risks, political risks, evolving trade and export restrictions and other trade-related barriers;
disruptions, breaches or failures in our information technology systems and network infrastructures;
projected growth rates in the overall semiconductor industry, the semiconductor assembly equipment market, and the market for semiconductor packaging materials;
projected demand for our products and services; and
unexpected delays and difficulties in executing against our environmental, climate, diversity and inclusion goals or such other environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) targets and commitments.
Generally, words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “plan,” “continue,” “goal” and “believe,” or the negative of or other variations on these and other similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this filing. We do not undertake to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Our future results could differ significantly from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those described below and under the heading “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report and our other reports and registration statements filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This discussion should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements included in this Annual Report.
We operate in a rapidly changing and competitive environment. New risks emerge from time to time and it is not possible for us to predict all risks that may affect us. Future events and actual results, performance and achievements could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by or underlying the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect actual results or changes in, or additions to, the factors affecting such forward-looking statement. Given those risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as predictions of actual results.

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Item 1. BUSINESS
Founded in 1951, Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (“K&S,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company”) specializes in developing cutting-edge semiconductor and electronics assembly solutions enabling a smarter and more sustainable future. Our ever-growing range of products and services supports growth and facilitates technology transitions across large-scale markets, such as advanced display, automotive, communications, compute, consumer, data storage, energy storage and industrial.
We design, develop, manufacture and sell capital equipment and consumables and provide services used to assemble semiconductor and electronic devices, such as integrated circuits, power discretes, light-emitting diode (“LEDs”), advanced displays and sensors. We also service, maintain, repair and upgrade our equipment and sell consumable aftermarket solutions and services for our and our peer companies’ equipment. Our customers primarily consist of integrated device manufacturers (“IDMs”), outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers (“OSATs”), foundry service providers, and other electronics manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers.
Our goal is to be the technology leader and the most competitive supplier in terms of performance, cost and quality in each of our major product lines. Accordingly, we invest in research and engineering projects intended to expand our market access and enhance our leadership position in semiconductor, electronics and display assembly. We also remain focused on enhancing our value to customers through higher productivity systems, more autonomous capabilities and continuous improvement and optimization of our operational costs. Delivering new levels of value to our customers is a critically important goal.
K&S was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1956. Our principal offices are located at 23A Serangoon North Avenue 5, #01-01, Singapore 554369 and 1005 Virginia Dr., Fort Washington, PA 19034, and our telephone number in the United States is (215) 784-6000. We maintain a website with the address www.kns.com. We are not including the information contained on our website as a part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this filing. We make available free of charge (other than an investor’s own Internet access charges) on or through our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after the material is electronically filed with or otherwise furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports are also available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Our year end for fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022 was September 28, 2024, September 30, 2023, and October 1, 2022, respectively.

Key Events in Fiscal 2024
Cancellation of Project W
The Company was engaged by one of its customers (the "Customer") to support the Customer with the development and future mass production of certain technologies relating to advanced display (the "Project"), which project was previously referred to as Project W. In connection with the Customer's strategic review of its business, the Customer informed the Company that it cancelled the Project. In connection with the foregoing, on March 11, 2024, the Company committed to a plan to cease operational activities and commence wind down activities concerning various aspects of the Project. As of September 28, 2024, the wind down activities have been substantially completed. The cancellation of the Project resulted in the reduction of the Company's fiscal 2024 revenue by approximately $15 million. The Company also incurred certain charges during the year ended September 28, 2024 and expects to incur an immaterial amount of additional related charges in fiscal year 2025. For additional information, please see "Part II, Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data — Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 17: Restructuring and Cancellation of Project".

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Macroeconomic Headwinds
The cost of logistics remains high as a result of macroeconomic conditions, inflation and labor shortages across layers of the supply chain. The Company’s management continues to monitor the economy for signs of any expansion of economic or supply chain disruptions or broader supply chain inflationary and logistical costs resulting either directly or indirectly from the tensions in the Middle East and between Ukraine and Russia.
The ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the prolonged Ukraine/Russia conflict did not have a material impact on our financial condition and operating results in fiscal 2024. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, existing facility agreements, and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our liquidity and capital requirements, notwithstanding the ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the prolonged Ukraine/Russia conflict and other macroeconomic factors, for at least the next twelve months from the date of this Annual Report. However, this is a highly dynamic situation. As the macroeconomic situation remains highly volatile and the geopolitical situation remains uncertain, there is uncertainty surrounding the operations of our manufacturing locations, our business, our expectations regarding future demand and supply conditions, our near- and long-term liquidity and our financial condition. Consequentially, our operating results could deteriorate.
During fiscal years 2021 and 2022, semiconductor suppliers rapidly increased production output in response to increases in end-consumer demand. Concerns surrounding supply availability have spurred defensive inventory purchases, which led to a heightened demand for our products.
The current macroeconomic conditions and declining consumer sentiment during fiscal years 2023 and 2024 have persisted, which continues to exacerbate inventory buildup in the semiconductor industry. Many of our customers who accumulated our products in the past three years continue to reduce their order rates as a result of inventory adjustment.
Due to general inflationary pressures, declining consumer sentiment, and an economic downturn caused, directly or indirectly, by various macroeconomic factors, including the ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the prolonged Ukraine/Russia conflict, the sector continues to experience volatility and disruption. However, we believe that the long-term semiconductor industry macroeconomics have not changed and we anticipate that the industry’s growth projections will normalize.
For other information, please see “Part I, Item 1A — Risk Factors”.
Share Repurchase Program
On August 15, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a program (the “Program”) to repurchase up to $100 million of the Company’s common stock on or before August 1, 2020. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, the Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization under the Program to $200 million, $300 million and $400 million, respectively. On March 3, 2022, the Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization under the Program by an additional $400 million to $800 million, and extended its duration through August 1, 2025. On November 17, 2023, the Company modified its written trading plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act, dated as of May 7, 2022, to facilitate repurchases under the Program. The modification provided for the purchase of up to approximately $169 million of the Company’s common stock from November 20, 2023 through August 1, 2025. The Program may be suspended or discontinued at any time and is funded using the Company’s available cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Under the Program, shares may be repurchased through open market and/or privately negotiated transactions at prices deemed appropriate by management. The timing and amount of repurchase transactions under the Program depend on market conditions as well as corporate and regulatory considerations.
During the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024, the Company repurchased a total of approximately 3,221.0 thousand shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of approximately $151.0 million. The stock repurchases were recorded in the periods they were delivered and accounted for as treasury stock in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company records treasury stock purchases under the cost method using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method. Upon re-issuance of treasury stock, amounts in excess of the acquisition cost are credited to additional paid-in capital. If the Company reissues treasury stock at an amount below its acquisition cost and additional paid-in capital associated with prior treasury stock transactions is insufficient to cover the difference between acquisition cost and the reissue price, this difference is recorded against retained earnings.
As of September 28, 2024, our remaining stock repurchase authorization under the Program was approximately $30.3 million.
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Dividends
On August 26, 2024, May 16, 2024, March 14, 2024 and November 15, 2023, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share of common stock, resulting in an aggregate dividend of $0.80 per share of common stock for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024. The declaration of any future cash dividend is at the discretion of the Board of Directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, business conditions and other factors, as well as a determination that such dividends are in the best interests of the Company’s shareholders.
Business Environment
The semiconductor business environment is highly volatile and is driven by internal dynamics, both cyclical and seasonal, in addition to macroeconomic forces. Over the long term, semiconductor consumption has historically grown, and is forecasted to continue to grow. This growth is driven, in part, by regular advances in device performance and by price declines that result from improvements in manufacturing technology. In order to exploit these trends, semiconductor manufacturers, both IDMs and OSATs, periodically invest aggressively in the latest generation capital equipment. This buying pattern often leads to periods of excess supply and reduced capital spending — the so-called semiconductor cycle. Within this broad semiconductor cycle there are also, generally weaker, seasonal effects that are specifically tied to annual, end-consumer purchasing patterns. Typically, semiconductor manufacturers prepare for heightened demand by adding or replacing equipment capacity by the end of the September quarter. Occasionally, this results in subsequent reductions in the December quarter. This annual seasonality can be overshadowed by effects of the broader semiconductor cycle. Macroeconomic factors also affect the industry, primarily through their effect on business and consumer demand for electronic devices, as well as other products that have significant electronic content such as automobiles, white goods, and telecommunication equipment. There can be no assurances regarding levels of demand for our products and we believe historic industry-wide volatility will persist.
From time to time, our customers may request that we deliver our products to countries where they own or operate production facilities or to countries where they utilize third-party subcontractors or warehouses as part of their supply chain. For example, customers headquartered in the U.S. may require us to deliver our products to their back-end production facilities in China. Our customer base in the Asia/Pacific region has become more geographically concentrated over time as a result of general economic and industry conditions and trends. Approximately 90.6% and 91.2% of our net revenue for fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively, was for shipments to customer locations outside of the U.S., primarily in the Asia/Pacific region. Approximately 53.3% and 38.6% of our net revenue for fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively, was for shipments to customers headquartered in China.
While our customers have generally been impacted by the current global macroeconomic conditions, those with operations in China, an important manufacturing and supply chain hub, have witnessed a faster decline in demand and, accordingly, a faster decline in product shipments, compared to the rest of the world. The shipments to customers headquartered in China are subject to heightened risks and uncertainties related to the respective trade and export control policies of the governments of China and the U.S. Furthermore, there remains a potential risk of conflict and instability in the relationship between Taiwan and China that could disrupt the operations of our customers and/or suppliers in both Taiwan and China and our manufacturing operations in Taiwan and China.
The U.S. and several other countries have levied tariffs on certain goods and have introduced other trade restrictions resulting in substantial uncertainties in the semiconductor, LED, memory and automotive markets.
Our Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment and Advanced Solutions reportable segments, as well as the remaining operating segments in the “All Others” category, are primarily affected by the industry’s internal cyclical and seasonal dynamics in addition to broader macroeconomic factors that can positively or negatively affect our financial performance. The sales mix of IDM and OSAT customers in any period also impacts financial performance, as changes in this mix can affect our products’ average selling prices and gross margins due to differences in volume purchases and machine configurations required by each customer type.
Our Aftermarket Products and Services (“APS”) segment has historically been less volatile than the other reportable segments. APS sales are more directly tied to semiconductor unit consumption rather than capacity requirements and production capability improvements. 

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We continue to position our business to leverage our research and development leadership and innovation and to focus our efforts on mitigating volatility, improving profitability and ensuring longer-term growth. We remain focused on operational excellence, expanding our product offerings through continuous research and development or acquisitions and managing our business efficiently throughout the business cycles. Our visibility into future demand is generally limited, forecasting is difficult, and we generally experience typical industry seasonality.
To limit potential adverse cyclical, seasonal and macroeconomic effects on our financial position, we have continued our efforts to maintain a strong balance sheet. As of September 28, 2024, our total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $577.1 million, a $182.3 million decrease from the prior fiscal year end. We believe our ability to maintain a strong cash position will allow us to continue to invest in product development, pursue non-organic growth opportunities and return capital to investors through our share repurchase and dividend programs. Please see “Part II, Item 7. – Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition - Liquidity and Capital Resources” for more information.
Technology Leadership
We compete in the General Semiconductor, LED, Automotive & Industrial and Memory end markets by offering our customers advanced capital equipment, tools and solutions primarily addressing their semiconductor interconnect and device assembly needs. Our technology leadership directly contributes to the strong market positions of our ball bonder, wedge bonder, advanced solutions, and other leading tools, services and solutions. To maintain our competitive advantage, we invest in product development activities designed to enhance existing products and to deliver next-generation solutions. These investments often focus on progressing the broader assembly process in addition to advancing specific hardware and software features within our broadening capital equipment and aftermarket solutions portfolios. In support of this development effort, we typically work in close collaboration with customers, end users, and other industry members. In addition to producing technical advances, these collaborative development efforts strengthen customer relationships and enhance our reputation as a technology leader and solutions provider.
In addition to gold, silver alloy wire and aluminum wire, our leadership in the industry’s use of copper wire for the bonding process is an example of the benefits of our collaborative efforts. By working with customers, material suppliers, and other equipment suppliers, we have developed a series of robust, high-yielding production processes, which have made the use of copper wire for the bonding process widely accepted and significantly reduced the cost of assembling an integrated circuit.
Our leadership also has allowed us to maintain a competitive position in the latest generations of ball bonders. Building on the success of RAPID, which is the first product in the smart bonder series to address the Industry 4.0 requirements, our RAPID Pro introduces additional functionality including the latest response-based processes. The RAPID series continues to excel in providing real-time process and performance monitoring, real-time equipment health monitoring, advanced data analytics and traceability, predictive maintenance monitoring and analysis, and detection and enhanced post-bond inspection.
We optimize our bonder platforms to deliver variants of our products to serve emerging high-growth markets. For example, we have developed extensions to address opportunities in memory assembly with our RAPID MEM, in particular for NAND Flash storage.
Our leading technology for wedge bonder equipment uses ribbon or heavy wire for different applications such as power electronics, automotive and semiconductor applications. The advanced interconnect capabilities of PowerFusionPS improve the processing of high-density power packages, due to an expanded bondable area, wider leadframe capability, indexing accuracy and teach mode. In all cases, we are making a concerted effort to develop commonality of subsystems and design practices, in order to improve performance and design efficiencies. We believe this will benefit us as it will increase synergies between our various product engineering groups. Furthermore, we continually research adjacent market segments where our technologies could be used. Our Asterion hybrid wedge bonder has demonstrated the capability to provide and enable an expanded bond area, laser bonding, new robust pattern recognition capabilities and extremely tight process controls. Another example of our developing equipment for high-growth niche markets is our AT Premier PLUS. This machine utilizes a modified wire bonding process to mechanically place bumps on devices in a wafer format, for variants of the flip chip assembly process. Typical applications include complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (“CMOS”) image sensors, surface acoustical wave (“SAW”) filters and high brightness LEDs. These applications are commonly used in most, if not all,
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of the smartphones available today in the market. We also have expanded the use of AT Premier PLUS for wafer level wire bonding for micro-electro-mechanical systems (“MEMS”) and other sensors.
Our technology leadership and bonding process know-how have enabled us to develop highly function-specific equipment with high throughput and accuracy. This forms the foundation for our advanced packaging equipment development. With the launch of our APAMATM, APAMA PlusTM and APTURATM, we are also developing and manufacturing advanced packaging solutions for the emerging 2.5-dimensional integrated circuit (“2.5D IC”) and 3-dimensional integrated circuit (“3D IC”) markets. By reducing the interconnect dimensions, 2.5D ICs and 3D ICs are expected to provide form factor, performance and power efficiency enhancements over traditional flip-chip packages in production today. High-performance processing and memory applications, in addition to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, are earlier adopters of this new packaging technology. Chiplets are emerging as an alternative methodology for developing advanced system-level designs. Chiplets of various functions and typically fabricated in different process nodes are mixed-and-matched and assembled in a package with the goal of speeding up time-to-market and reducing cost. This methodology of developing advanced system-level designs is increasing the complexity of packages. Our leadership in system-in-package (“SiP”), multi-chip module (“MCM”) and heterogeneous integration are well positioned to address the requirements of this emerging and growing trend.
The APTURATM is a highly capable thermo-compression bonding system which supports ultra-fine-pitch fluxless direct-copper thermo-compression as well as the CuFirstTM hybrid bonding process. Both fluxless thermo-compression ("FTC") as well as CuFirstTM are well positioned to enable growth of chiplet-based advanced packages.
We continue to expand technology partnerships with key customers and through engagements with institutions and consortiums, including the UCLA Center for Heterogeneous Integration and Performance Scaling (“CHIPS”), Penn State Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (“CHIMES”), and the “US-Joint” semiconductor consortium led by Resonac Holdings Corporation.
In addition to our growing heterogeneous opportunities, we have also broadened our mass reflow advanced packaging solutions to include high-accuracy flip chip and fan-out wafer level packaging (“FOWLP”) with KatalystTM. Our electronics assembly solutions are also capable of advanced package-on-package, wafer level packaging (“WLP”), embedded die, and active and passive die placement for SiP, enabling us to diversify our business while further expanding market reach into the automotive, LED lighting, medical and industrial segments.
With the launch of LUMINEXTM, our high-speed die placement as well as mass die transfer are now available to support various applications in the integrated circuit and advanced display value chain. In LUMINEXTM, we believe we remain well positioned to provide mini-LED and direct-emissive displays for high volume adoption. We remain focused on driving innovation and delivering new solutions that directly address the next set of semiconductor assembly challenges assembling the next-generation of electronic devices.
We bring the same technology focus to our tools business, driving tool design and manufacturing technology to optimize the performance and process capability of the equipment in which our tools are used. For all our equipment products, tools are an integral part of their process capability. We believe our unique ability to simultaneously develop both equipment and tools is a core strength supporting our products' technological differentiation.
Customers
Our major customers include IDMs, OSATs, foundry service providers, and other electronic manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers. Revenue from our customers may vary significantly from year-to-year based on their respective capital investments, and operating expense budgets, and overall industry trends. There was no customer with sales representing more than 10% of our net revenue in fiscal 2024. For additional information regarding our concentrations and customers, please see “Part II, Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data — Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements - Note 16: Commitments, Contingencies and Concentrations”.

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Sales and Customer Support
We believe long-term customer relationships are critical to our success, and comprehensive sales support and customer support are an important means of establishing those relationships. To maintain these relationships, we primarily utilize our direct sales force, as well as distribution channels such as agents and distributors, depending on the product, region, and end-user application. In all cases, our goal is to position our sales support and customer support resources near our customers’ facilities so as to provide support for customers in their own language and consistent with local customs. Our sales support and customer support resources are located primarily in Singapore, Israel, Taiwan, China, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, India, the U.S., Germany, Mexico, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Supporting these local resources, we have technology centers offering additional process expertise in Singapore, China, Switzerland, Israel, the U.S. and the Netherlands.
By establishing relationships with semiconductor manufacturers, OSATs, and vertically integrated manufacturers of electronic systems, we gain insight into our customers' future semiconductor packaging strategies. In addition, we also send our products and equipment to customers and potential customers for trial and evaluation. These insights assist us in our efforts to develop products and processes that address our customers' future assembly requirements.
Backlog
Our backlog consists of customer orders scheduled for shipment within the next twelve months. A majority of our orders are subject to cancellation or deferral by our customers with limited or no penalties. Also, customer demand for our products can vary dramatically without prior notice. Because of the volatility of customer demand, possibility of customer changes in delivery schedules or cancellations and potential delays in product shipments, our backlog as of any particular date may not be indicative of net revenue for any succeeding period.
The following table reflects our backlog as of September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023:
As of
(in thousands)September 28, 2024September 30, 2023
Backlog$148,585 $423,824 
Manufacturing
We believe excellence in manufacturing can create a competitive advantage, both by producing at lower costs and by providing superior responsiveness to changes in customer demand. To achieve these goals, we manage our manufacturing operations through a single organization and believe that fewer, larger factories allow us to capture economies of scale and generate cost savings through lower manufacturing costs.
Our equipment manufacturing activities consist mainly of integrating outsourced parts and subassemblies and testing finished products to customer specifications. We largely utilize an outsource model, allowing us to minimize our fixed costs and capital expenditures. For certain low-volume, high customization parts, we manufacture subassemblies ourselves. Just-in-time inventory management has reduced our manufacturing cycle times and lowered our on-hand inventory requirements. Raw materials used in our equipment manufacturing are generally available from multiple sources; however, many outsourced parts and components are only available from a single or limited number of sources.
Our ball bonder, wedge bonder, AT Premier, APAMATM, APAMA PlusTM, APTURATM and KatalystTM bonder manufacturing and assembly is done at our facility in Singapore. Our Hybrid and Electronic Assembly solutions manufacturing and assembly is done at our facility in the Netherlands. Our advanced dispensing manufacturing and assembly is done at our facility in Taiwan. We have ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications for our equipment manufacturing facilities in Singapore and in the Netherlands.
We manufacture dicing blades, capillaries and a portion of our bonding wedge inventory at our facility in China. The capillaries are produced at our facilities in China and Israel. We both produce and outsource the production of our bonding wedges. Our China and Israel facilities are ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certified.
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Research and Product Development
Many of our customers generate technology roadmaps describing their projected packaging technology requirements. Our research and product development activities are focused on delivering robust production solutions to those projected requirements. We accomplish this by regularly introducing improved versions of existing products or by developing next-generation products. We follow this product development methodology in all our major product lines.
Intellectual Property
Where circumstances warrant, we apply for patents on inventions governing new products and processes developed as part of our ongoing research, engineering, and manufacturing activities. We currently hold a number of U.S. patents, many of which have foreign counterparts. We believe the duration of our patents often exceeds the commercial life cycles of the technologies disclosed and claimed in the patents. Additionally, we believe much of our important technology resides in our trade secrets and proprietary software.
Competition
The market for semiconductor equipment and packaging materials products is intensely competitive. Significant competitive factors in the semiconductor equipment market include price, speed/throughput, production yield, process control, delivery time, innovation, quality and customer support, each of which contribute to lower the overall cost per package being manufactured. Our major equipment competitors are ASM Pacific Technology, Hesse GmbH, Han's Laser Technology Co., Ltd., BE Semiconductor Industries N.V., Hanwha Precision Machinery Co., Ltd., Panasonic Holdings Corporation, Yamaha Robotics Holdings Co. Ltd., and Nordson Corporation.
Significant competitive factors in the semiconductor packaging materials industry include performance, price, delivery, product life, and quality. Our significant consumables competitors are PECO Co., Ltd., Disco Corporation, Small Precision Tools Co., Ltd. and Chaozhou Three-Circle (Group) Co., Ltd.
In each of the markets we serve, we face competition and the threat of competition from established competitors and potential new entrants, some of which may have greater financial, engineering, manufacturing, and marketing resources.
Environmental and Other Regulatory Matters
We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, storage, use, emission, discharge, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials and the health and safety of our employees. In addition, we are subject to environmental laws which may require investigation and cleanup of any contamination at facilities we own or operate or at third-party waste disposal sites we use or have used.
We have incurred in the past, and expect in the future to incur, costs to comply with environmental laws. We are not, however, currently aware of any material costs or liabilities relating to environmental matters, including any claims or actions under environmental laws or obligations to perform any cleanups at any of our facilities or any third-party waste disposal sites, that we expect to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results. However, it is possible that material environmental costs or liabilities may arise in the future.
Though the majority of our manufacturing activities take place outside of the U.S., certain of our advanced packaging products are subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) because they are based on U.S. technology or contain more than a de minimis amount of controlled U.S. content. The EAR require licenses for, and sometimes prohibit, the export of certain products. The Commerce Control List (“CCL”) sets forth the types of goods and services controlled by the EAR, including civilian science, technology, and engineering dual-use items. For products listed on the CCL, a license may be required as a condition to export depending on the end destination, end use or end user and any applicable license exceptions.
Our business is subject to various other regulations typical of businesses of our type in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We maintain an export compliance program designed to meet the requirements of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of State.

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Business Continuity Management Plan
We have developed and implemented a global Business Continuity Management Plan (“BCP”) for our business operations. The BCP is designed to facilitate the prompt resumption of our business operations and functions arising from an event which impacts or potentially impacts our business operations. As the scale, timing, and impact of disasters and disruptions are unpredictable, the BCP has been designed to be flexible in responding to actual events as they occur. The BCP provides a structured framework for safeguarding our employees and property, making a financial and operational assessment, protecting our books and records, perpetuating critical business functions, and enabling the continuation of customer transactions. We review and update our BCP on a periodic basis to reflect any changes in our Company’s structure, operations or environment that may affect its continuity.
Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”)
We continue to proactively manage and address the ESG topics that are of concern to us and our stakeholders. The sustainability governance structure at K&S continues to evolve and mature. In fiscal 2022, we embedded our four corporate social responsibility pillars into a wider ESG framework now covering the full spectrum of ESG-related efforts and initiatives, and further integrated these ESG-related considerations, efforts and initiatives into many of our business and operational practices.
We also established an ESG council to oversee our ESG efforts. The ESG council comprises sub-components overseen by organizational leads, with each lead providing regular updates on status and planned initiatives to defined ESG council work streams. The ESG council provides quarterly updates to our executive leadership, with the Nominating and Governance Committee (“NGC”) of the Board of Directors receiving summary reports on a semi-annual basis.
In fiscal 2023, we performed an independent, limited external assurance of our direct (Scope 1) and purchased energy indirect (Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions data under the operational control boundary of eight of our global operational sites.
For more information on our ESG efforts, please refer to our Sustainability Report 2023, which can be found on our website at https://www.kns.com/ESG. This website reference is provided for convenience only and the content on the referenced website is expressly not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Human Capital
Our Employees
Our talented employees are critical to our ability to achieve the Company’s vision to be the leading technology and service provider of innovative interconnect solutions enabling a smart future. As of September 28, 2024, we had 2,681 full-time employees and 65 temporary workers worldwide.
Diversity & Inclusion
We are committed to providing a diverse and collaborative environment that is rich in opportunities and which enables our employees to grow both professionally and personally in their careers within the Company. We are also committed to treating employees with dignity and respect. Diversity is important to the Company and we believe that the combined knowledge and diverse views that our employees contribute across our global locations strengthens our competitive edge. We value different backgrounds, celebrate unique perspectives, and believe that diversity and inclusion are essential to creating an environment where we can achieve our best innovation, which is essential to the success of the Company. In fiscal 2022, the Company incorporated its Diversity & Inclusion (“D&I”) program into its ESG structure.
The vision of the D&I program is to enrich the experience of all Company employees, irrespective of their seniority or role. It aims to foster an environment that acknowledges and celebrates their contributions and achievements in a unified and supportive setting. The Company implemented a learning and development series titled “Inclusive Leader Mindset Change Training”. This program was designed to equip all people managers with valuable perspectives and tools to cultivate inclusive leadership.

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Safe Workplace
We endeavor to provide a safe and healthy workplace for all our employees. The health and safety of our employees is of paramount importance to the Company, and forms an integral part of our organizational culture. The Executive Safety Committee (the “Safety Committee”), that was established in fiscal 2022, provides overall leadership and policy in discharging the Company’s safety responsibilities while promoting a culture of safety within the Company. The Safety Committee, together with key site and operations leadership responsible for the Company’s workplace safety and health, works together to establish and communicate a vision for the Company’s workplace safety. Each of our key manufacturing and R&D sites have also established its Environment, Health and Safety (“EHS”) practices, objectives and performance targets, which are overseen by an EHS Committee, led by an EHS Manager or a Safety Representative from each key operations function. To ensure that all employees are familiar with our safety standards and actions, we conduct regular health and safety-related trainings including an online-based Corporate Safety Training module, as well as hands-on emergency preparedness training comprising periodic fire drill evacuations, first-aid, fire-fighting and hazardous chemical spillage response drills. This training is included in our new hire on-boarding programs with employee-wide refresher trainings conducted every two years.
As and when required, including as a response to a potential global health crisis, our Company will implement site specific business continuity and risk mitigation plans to help maintain the health and safety of our employees.
Human Resource (“HR”) Practices
At K&S, we aim to recruit, develop and retain a high performing and diverse workforce while fostering a safe and productive work environment for employees to maximize individual and organizational potential. Our regional HR managers support the local leaders and managers, ensuring that our employment and labor practices adhere to regional and local regulations. We continually review these policies and benchmark them against market peers to help ensure that we implement leading practices on recruitment, onboarding and employee development. Our HR function also includes centers of excellence in Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, HR Shared Services, and Global Compensation and Benefits, ensuring best practices in these important areas.
Employee Development
We believe in investing in our employees’ professional growth by encouraging them to continually develop their functional and leadership skills and to gain different experiences across the Company as they progress along their career paths and grow within our organization. Our Learning and Development Framework which is based on identified professional and management competencies and the Company’s core values, is tailored to specific target groups such as new hires, professional and support staff levels, manager levels as well as identified key talents from our succession planning process. These development programs are also based on the 70/20/10 learning and development model under which individuals obtain 70% of their knowledge through experiential learning, 20% through social learning and 10% from formal educational events. We encourage our employees to not only participate actively in technical and soft skill training programs, but also to learn through peer coaching and mentoring, and to develop professionally through various stretch assignments and projects. In fiscal 2024, we continued with our global leadership development programs aimed at accelerating the development of our high potential mid-career professionals and managers to prepare them to assume broader leadership roles.
Following employee feedback in the last employee engagement survey, we introduced a formalized career progression framework and associated tools to provide clarity and guidance to both managers and employees. The framework provides clarity and tools for employees in the Professional and Management Career tracks on the requisite competencies for advancement to the next career level within the Company. Employees are encouraged to enroll in the various training courses intended to support their development in the required competency stages as they chart their career progression with the Company.
Compensation & Benefits
We strive to ensure fair, equitable and competitive pay for all employees within the locations where they work, and we obtain market knowledge about pay levels by participating in multiple globally recognized compensation surveys annually. The survey organizations pool our data together with all the responding companies to determine market relevant pay ranges for all our positions. Our analysis and programs also evaluate industry sector information most relevant to us. The Company also strives to ensure that our employee benefits are compliant in the cities, states and countries in which we operate, while annual benefits benchmarking ensures that our benefits are attractive in the markets where we compete for talent.

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Employee Engagement
As part of our employee engagement initiatives, every two to three years, we conduct a global employee engagement survey, the “Voice of K&S”, to gather feedback from all our employees on various aspects of their work and on our corporate culture. Survey results are reviewed by management teams to identify improvement opportunity areas.
Flexible work arrangements, which had been critical to our success throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, has now become part of our culture. We have provided tools and infrastructure to enable employees the choice and flexibility of a range of flexible work arrangement options that best meet their needs while allowing them to continue to fulfill the Company’s business objectives.
Open Door Policy
We maintain an open-door policy through our grievance and whistleblowing procedures and provide multiple avenues for employees to voice their concerns and raise suggestions. Employees may report any grievances to their immediate supervisor, local HR representatives or the Global Vice President of HR. Employees may also confidentially and anonymously raise any concerns of legal violation, violation of the Company’s codes and policies, improper or unethical business practices, or concealment of any wrong-doing through the whistleblower hotline, whistleblower website or the Company's General Counsel. We take every raised complaint seriously and prohibit any form of retaliation against any employee for lodging a complaint in good faith.
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Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
Semiconductor Industry and Macroeconomic Risks
Our operating results and financial condition could be adversely impacted by volatile worldwide economic conditions and unpredictable spending by our customers due to uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment.
Though the semiconductor industry’s cycle can be independent of the general economy, global economic conditions may have a direct impact on demand for semiconductor units and ultimately demand for semiconductor capital equipment and tools. Accordingly, our business and financial performance is impacted, both positively and negatively, by fluctuations in the macroeconomic environment. Expenditures by our customers depend on the current and anticipated market demand for semiconductors and products that use semiconductors, LEDs and batteries, including mobile devices, personal computers, consumer electronics, telecommunications equipment, automotive components, electric vehicles and other industrial products. Reductions or other fluctuations in our customers' spending as a result of uncertain conditions and volatility in the macroeconomic environment, including from government, economic or fiscal instability, economic recession, actual or potential inflation, rising interest rates, slower growth in certain geographic regions, global trade issues, global health crises and pandemics, restricted global credit conditions, reduced demand, excess inventory, higher energy prices, or other conditions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Further, our profitability can be affected by volatility because we incur a certain amount of fixed costs that we cannot modulate up and down to meet increases or decreases in demand. The impact of broad-based weakening in the global macroeconomic environment could make our customers cautious and delay orders until the economic outlook becomes clearer. Significant downturns in the market for semiconductor devices or in general economic conditions reduce demand for our products and can materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Our visibility into future demand is generally limited and forecasting is difficult, and we believe historic, industry-wide volatility will persist.
International political instability, geopolitical tensions, terrorist acts and acts of war may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
The threat of terrorism or acts of war, risks and rumors of war, escalation and civil disturbances, including the prolonged tensions in the Middle East and the Ukraine/ Russia conflict, increases the uncertainty in our markets and could adversely affect our business. On October 7, 2023, an escalated armed conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization commenced, leading to a series of extended hostilities along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. Additionally, since October 8, 2023, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group has increased its hostilities against Israel over its northern region, including Haifa. The situation in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon remains highly tense and volatile.
Many multinational companies in the semiconductor industry have research, design and development centers situated in Israel, including our Company, which has a manufacturing facility and a business office in Haifa.
The intensity, duration and outcome of the ongoing war is uncertain and its continuation or escalation may have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. While we are currently maintaining business and operations in Israel without material damage or interruptions at our Israeli facility, our assets and operations in Israel could be vulnerable to future property damage, inventory loss, business disruption, and expropriation.
We have approximately 70 employees in Israel. The ongoing war could cause harm to our employees and otherwise impair their ability to work for extended periods of time, as well as disrupt supply chains, transport networks, telecommunications and financial systems, and other critical infrastructure necessary to conduct business in Israel. In late September 2024, missiles fired by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group were seen being intercepted by Israeli air defense system over the city of Haifa. As the intensity of the war has been rapidly evolving, including the potential for heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, we continue to receive and review reports concerning our operations and business partners and remain vigilant.
The risk of cybersecurity incidents may also increase in connection with the ongoing war. These attacks may impact critical infrastructure and financial institutions globally, which in turn could adversely affect our operations. While we have taken actions to mitigate such potential risks, the proliferation of malware from the war into systems unrelated to the war, or cyberattacks targeted against U.S. companies, could adversely affect our operations.
Even if the war moderates, or a peaceful resolution in the region is reached, the detrimental impact to the global financial markets may be far-reaching, and may not recover immediately. The potential effects of these conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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We depend on our suppliers, including sole source suppliers, for raw materials, components and subassemblies. If our suppliers do not deliver their products to us, or deliver non-compliant or defective products, we would be unable to deliver our products to our customers.
Our products are complex and require raw materials, components and subassemblies having a high degree of reliability, accuracy and performance. We rely on subcontractors to manufacture many of these components and subassemblies and we rely on sole source suppliers for certain key technology parts and raw materials. As a result, we are exposed to a number of significant risks, including:
decreased control over the manufacturing process for components and subassemblies;
changes in our manufacturing processes in response to changes in the market, which may delay our shipments;
our inadvertent use of defective or contaminated raw materials;
the relatively small operations and limited manufacturing resources of some of our suppliers, which may limit their ability to manufacture and sell subassemblies, components or parts in the volumes we require and at acceptable quality levels and prices;
restrictions on our ability to rely on suppliers due to changes in trade regulation as well as laws and regulations enacted in response to concerns related to climate change, conflict minerals, or responsible sourcing practices;
the inability of suppliers to meet our or other customer demand requirements;
reliability or quality issues with certain key subassemblies provided by single source suppliers as to which we may not have any short-term alternative;
shortages caused by disruptions at our suppliers and subcontractors for a variety of reasons, including public health emergencies and associated containment measures, war or geopolitical tensions (such as the prolonged tensions in the Middle East and the Ukraine/Russia conflict), significant natural disasters (including as a result of climate change) or significant price changes (including as a result of inflationary pressures);
delays in the delivery of raw materials or subassemblies, which, in turn, may delay shipments to our customers;
loss of suppliers as a result of consolidation of suppliers in the industry; and
loss of suppliers because of their bankruptcy or insolvency.
If any of these risks were to materialize, we might be unable to deliver our products to our customers on time and at expected cost, or at all. While we observed some easing of the industry-wide supply constraints in fiscal 2024, we expect some constraints to continue from time to time and the duration of such constraints or their long-term impact on our business cannot be predicted at this time.
As part of our supply chain management, we may from time to time increase our inventory levels to mitigate against anticipated future component shortages. These increases in our inventory levels may lead to an excess of materials in the future in the event that the demand for our products is lower than our expectations or if we otherwise fail to anticipate future customer demand properly. Excess inventory levels could result in inventory write-downs at discounted prices, which could adversely affect our cash flows or gross margins. As a result, our business, financial condition and operating results would be materially and adversely affected.
The semiconductor industry is volatile with sharp periodic downturns and slowdowns. Cyclical industry downturns are made worse by volatile global economic conditions.
The semiconductor industry is volatile, with periods of rapid growth followed by industry-wide retrenchment. These periodic downturns and slowdowns have in the past adversely affected our business, financial condition and operating results. Downturns have been characterized by, among other things, diminished product demand, excess production capacity, and accelerated erosion of selling prices. Historically these downturns have severely and negatively affected the industry’s demand for capital equipment, including assembly equipment and, to a lesser extent, tools. In any case, we believe the historical volatility of our business, both upward and downward, will persist. Consequently, our revenues may decline, and our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
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Difficulties in forecasting demand for our product lines may lead to periodic inventory shortages or excesses.
We typically operate our business with limited visibility of future demand. We do not have long-term contracts with many of our customers. As a result, demand for our products in future periods is difficult to predict and we sometimes experience inventory shortages or excesses. We generally order supplies and otherwise plan our production based on internal forecasts for demand. We have in the past failed, and may again in the future fail, to accurately forecast demand for our products. This has led to, and may in the future lead to, delays in product shipments or, alternatively, an increased risk of inventory obsolescence. As part of our supply chain management, we have increased our inventory levels in an effort to mitigate component shortages, which may increase the risk of inventory obsolescence. If we fail to accurately forecast demand for our products, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.
Our quarterly operating results fluctuate significantly and may continue to do so in the future.
In the past, our quarterly operating results have fluctuated significantly. We expect that our quarterly results will continue to fluctuate. Although these fluctuations are partly due to the cyclical and volatile nature of the semiconductor industry, they also reflect other factors, many of which are outside of our control.
Some of the factors that may cause our net revenue and operating margins to fluctuate significantly from period to period are:
market downturns;
industry inventory levels;
the mix of products we sell because, for example:
certain lines of equipment or certain aftermarket tools within our business segments are more profitable than others; and
some sales arrangements have higher gross margins than others;
canceled or deferred orders;
variations in sales channel or mix of direct sales and indirect sales;
seasonality;
competitive pricing pressures may force us to reduce prices;
higher than anticipated costs of development, achieving customer acceptance or production of new products;
the availability and cost of the components for our products;
delays in the development and manufacture of our new products and upgraded versions of our products and market acceptance of these products when introduced;
customers’ delay in purchasing our products due to anticipation that we or our competitors may introduce new or upgraded products; and
our competitors’ introduction of new products.
Many of our expenses, such as research and development, selling, general and administrative expenses, and interest expense, do not vary directly with our net revenue. Our research and development efforts include long-term projects lasting a year or more, which require significant investments. In order to realize the benefits of these projects, we believe that we must continue to fund them even during periods when our revenue has declined. As a result, a decline in our net revenue would adversely affect our operating results as we continue to make these expenditures. In addition, if we were to incur additional expenses in a quarter in which we did not experience comparable increased net revenue, our operating results would decline. In a downturn, we may have excess inventory, which could be written off. Some of the other factors that may cause our expenses to fluctuate from period-to-period include:
timing and extent of our research and development efforts;
severance, restructuring, and other costs of relocating our manufacturing or warehouse facilities;
inventory write-offs due to obsolescence, project cancellations or other causes; and
an increase in the cost of labor or materials.
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Because our net revenue and operating results are volatile and difficult to predict, we believe consecutive period-to-period or year-over-year comparisons of our operating results may not be a good indication of our future performance.
Competitive Risks
Our average selling prices usually decline over time and may continue to do so.
Typically, our average selling prices have declined over time due to continuous price pressure from our customers, our competitors and general cost reductions within our industry’s supply chains. The Chinese government’s initiatives around self-sustainability are propelling China to expand its domestic manufacturing capacity. With considerable incentives from the Chinese government, manufacturers based in China are able to lower selling prices, thereby increasing overall competition. This has resulted in a lowering of our average selling prices in China. We seek to offset this decline by continually reducing our cost structure by consolidating operations in lower cost areas, reducing other operating costs, by pursuing product strategies focused on product performance and customer service, and developing new products for which we are able to charge higher prices. These efforts may not enable us to fully offset price declines, and if they do not, our financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.
We may not be able to rapidly develop, manufacture and gain market acceptance of new and enhanced products required to maintain or expand our business.
We believe our continued success depends on our ability to continuously develop and manufacture new products and product enhancements on a timely and cost-effective basis. We must introduce these products and product enhancements into the market in a timely manner in response to customers’ demands for higher performance assembly equipment and leading-edge materials customized to address rapid technological advances in integrated circuits, and capital equipment designs. Our competitors may develop new products or enhancements to their products that offer improved performance and features, or lower prices which may render our products less competitive. The development and commercialization of new products require significant capital expenditures over an extended period of time, and some products we seek to develop may never become profitable. In addition, we may not be able to develop and introduce products incorporating new technologies in a timely manner that will satisfy our customers’ future needs or achieve market acceptance. If we are not able to develop and sell our products that meet the demands of our customers, it would result in lower net revenues and our operating results would be adversely affected.
We may be unable to continue to compete successfully in the highly competitive semiconductor equipment and packaging materials industries.
The semiconductor equipment and packaging materials industries are very competitive. In the semiconductor equipment industry, significant competitive factors include price, speed/throughput, production yield, process control, footprint, delivery time, innovation, quality and customer support. In the semiconductor packaging materials industry, significant competitive factors include price, delivery and quality.
In each of our markets, we face competition and the threat of competition from established competitors and potential new entrants. In addition, established competitors may combine to form larger, better-capitalized companies. Some of our competitors have or may have significantly greater financial, engineering, manufacturing and marketing resources than we do. Some of these competitors are Asian and European companies that have had, and may continue to have, an advantage over us in supplying products to local customers who appear to prefer to purchase from local suppliers. Some of these competitors compete across many of our product lines, while others are primarily focused in a specific product area, all of which could result in lowering the barriers to entry. Some governments may have provided, and will continue to provide, financial assistance or other support to some of our competitors or to new entrants, to advance the nation's growth in the semiconductor equipment and packaging materials industries.
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We expect our competitors to improve their current products’ performance, and to introduce new products and materials with improved price and performance characteristics. Our competitors may independently develop technology similar to or better than ours. They may also appropriate our technology and our intellectual property to compete against us and we may not have adequate legal recourse. New product and material introductions by existing competitors or by new market entrants could hurt our sales. If a semiconductor manufacturer or subcontract assembler selects a competitor’s product or materials for a particular assembly operation, we may not be able to sell products or materials to that manufacturer or assembler for a significant period of time. Manufacturers and assemblers sometimes develop lasting relationships with suppliers and assembly equipment providers in our industry and often go years without requiring replacement. In addition, we may have to lower our prices in response to price cuts by our competitors, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. If we cannot compete successfully, we could lose customers and experience reduced margins and profitability.

Geographic, Trade and Customer Risks
Substantially all of our sales, distribution channels and manufacturing operations are located outside of the U.S., which subjects us to risks, including risks from changes in trade regulations, currency fluctuations, political instability and conflicts.
From time to time, our customers may request that we deliver our products to countries where they own or operate production facilities or to countries where they utilize third-party subcontractors or warehouses as part of their supply chain. Our customer base in the Asia/Pacific region has become more geographically concentrated over time as a result of general economic and industry conditions and trends. Over 90% of our net revenue is derived from shipments to customers located outside of the U.S., primarily in the Asia/Pacific region. Approximately 53.3% and 38.6% of our net revenue for fiscal 2024 and 2023, respectively, was derived from shipments to customers headquartered in China.
We expect our future performance to depend on our ability to continue to compete in foreign markets, particularly in the Asia/Pacific region. Some of these economies have been highly volatile, resulting in significant fluctuation in local currencies, and political and economic instability. Some of these economies may also increase trade protectionism, thereby increasing barriers to entry, amplifying supply chain risks and adversely affecting the demand for our products. These conditions may continue or worsen, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We also rely on non-U.S. suppliers for materials and components used in our products, and substantially all of our manufacturing operations are located in countries other than the U.S. We currently manufacture our ball, wedge, APAMATM and APTURATM bonders in Singapore, our Hybrid and Electronic Assembly solutions in the Netherlands, our dicing blades, capillaries and bonding wedges in China, our capillaries in Israel and China, and our advanced dispensing equipment in Taiwan. We also rely on independent foreign distribution channels for certain of our product lines. As a result, a major portion of our business is subject to the risks associated with international commerce, particularly Asia/Pacific region, such as:
stringent and frequently changing trade compliance regulations;
less protective foreign intellectual property laws, and the enforcement of patent and other intellectual property rights;
longer payment cycles in foreign markets and potential default risks;
foreign exchange restrictions and capital controls, monetary policies and regulatory requirements;
restrictions or significant taxes on the repatriation of our assets, including cash;
tariff and currency fluctuations;
difficulties of staffing and managing dispersed international operations, including labor work stoppages and strikes in our factories or the factories of our suppliers;
changes in our structure or tax incentive arrangements;
possible disagreements with tax authorities;
episodic events outside our control such as, for example, outbreaks of coronaviruses, influenza, monkeypox or other illnesses;
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natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires or floods, including as a result of climate change;
war, risks and rumors of war and civil disturbances, including the prolonged tensions in the Middle East and the Ukraine/Russia conflict, or other events that may limit or disrupt manufacturing, markets and international trade;
act of terrorism that impact our operations, customers or supply chain or that target U.S. interests or U.S. companies;
seizure of our foreign assets, including cash;
the imposition of sanctions of countries in which we do business;
changing political conditions and rising geopolitical tensions; and
legal systems which are less developed and may be less predictable than those in the U.S.
In addition, there remains a potential risk of conflict and instability in the relationship between Taiwan and China which could disrupt the operations of our customers and/or suppliers in both Taiwan and China, our manufacturing operations in Taiwan and China, and our future plans in the region.
Our international operations also depend on favorable trade relations between the U.S. and those foreign countries in which our customers, subcontractors and materials suppliers have operations. A protectionist trade environment in either the U.S. or those foreign countries in which we do business, such as a change in the current tariff structures, export compliance or other trade policies, may materially and adversely affect our ability to sell our products in foreign markets.
Catastrophic events, such as pandemics and extreme weather events as a result of climate change, can have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial results.
Our operations and business, and those of our customers and suppliers, can be disrupted by natural disasters, public health issues, interruptions of service from utilities, or other catastrophic events including as a result of climate change. In addition, global climate change can result in natural disasters occurring more frequently, with greater intensity and with less predictability. We also operate in seismic zones including Taiwan, which is located within a complex zone of convergence between the Philippines Sea Plate and Eurasian Plate. For example, in April 2024, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Taiwan, resulting in significant injuries and death, leading to a temporary suspension of business and services. Although our advanced dispensing manufacturing operations in Taiwan were not affected, the earthquake resulted in the temporary suspension of other semiconductor factories and suppliers who operate in Taiwan. The long-term effects of climate change on the global economy and the semiconductor industry in particular are unclear but could be severe, and could exacerbate the other risk factors described herein. Catastrophic events could make it difficult or impossible to manufacture or deliver products to our customers, receive materials from our suppliers, or perform critical functions, whether on a timely basis or at all, which could adversely affect our revenue and operations. Some of the systems we maintain as part of our business recovery plans cannot guarantee us protection from such disruptions. Furthermore, even if our operations are unaffected or if we managed to recover our operations quickly, if our customers or suppliers cannot timely resume their own operations due to a catastrophic event, we may be unable to fulfil our customers’ orders, and may experience reduced or cancelled orders or other disruptions to our supply chain that may adversely affect our results of operations.
We are subject to export restrictions that may limit our ability to sell to certain customers, and trade wars, in particular the U.S.-China trade war, could adversely affect our business.
The U.S. and several other countries levy tariffs on certain goods and impose other trade restrictions that may impact our customers’ investment in manufacturing equipment, reduce the competitiveness of our products, or inhibit our ability to sell products or purchase necessary equipment and supplies. In particular, trade tensions between the U.S. and China have been escalating since 2018, with U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and retaliatory Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods, and there remains significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the U.S. and China. We cannot predict what further actions may ultimately be taken with respect to tariffs or trade relations between the U.S. and other countries, what products may be subject to such actions, or what actions may be taken by other countries in response. Further changes in trade policy, tariffs, additional taxes, restrictions on exports or other trade barriers, or restrictions on supplies, equipment, and raw materials, may limit our ability to produce products, increase our selling and/or manufacturing costs, reduce the competitiveness of our products, or
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inhibit our ability to sell products or purchase necessary equipment and supplies, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Though nearly all of our manufacturing activities take place outside of the U.S., certain of our advanced packaging products are subject to the EAR because they are based on U.S. technology or contain more than a de minimis amount of controlled U.S. content. The EAR require licenses for, and sometimes prohibit, the export of certain products. The CCL sets forth the types of goods and services controlled by the EAR, including civilian science, technology, and engineering dual-use items. For products listed on the CCL, a license may be required as a condition to export depending on the end destination, end use or end user and any applicable license exceptions.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) amended the EAR to expand controls on certain foreign products based on U.S. technology and sold to Huawei and certain other companies. In October 2022, the BIS amended the EAR again to extend those foreign controls to numerous companies on BIS’ so-called Entity List. The 2020 and 2022 amendments impact some of our advanced packaging products, which are based on U.S. technology and are within the scope of the expanded EAR controls on Huawei and other Entity List companies. Therefore, these products cannot be sold to Huawei and other Entity List companies, and are subject to certain end-use restrictions. To date, these amendments to the EAR have not had a material direct impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations and we do not expect that they will, although they could have indirect impact, including increasing tensions in U.S. and Chinese trade relations, potentially leading to negative sentiments towards U.S.-based companies among Chinese consumers. Additionally, some end users may prefer to avoid the U.S. supply chain in its entirety to avoid the application of these regulations.
In November 2023, the BIS issued additional rules to update export controls on advanced computing semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as well as items that support supercomputing applications and end-uses, to arms embargoed countries, including China.
We are taking appropriate measures to comply with all applicable BIS Rules. Where required, we will apply for export licenses from the BIS to avoid disruption to our customers’ operations. Export licenses may be subject to a prolonged review and appeals process, to which there cannot be an assurance as to whether an export license may be granted, granted with conditions or eventually revoked due to subsequent challenge.
Additionally, the rules promulgated by the BIS are typically complex, and the BIS could revise or expand them in response to public comments. Likewise, the 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.
Future changes in, and responses to, the various export regulations, tariffs, or other trade regulations between the U.S. and other countries may be unpredictable. Such further changes may limit our ability to produce products, increase our selling or manufacturing costs, decrease margins, reduce the competitiveness of our products and cause our sales to decline, and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Because a small number of customers account for most of our sales, our net revenue could decline if we lose a significant customer.
The semiconductor manufacturing industry is highly concentrated, with a relatively small number of large semiconductor manufacturers and their subcontract assemblers and vertically integrated manufacturers of electronic systems purchasing a substantial portion of our semiconductor assembly equipment and packaging materials. Sales to a relatively small number of customers have historically accounted for a significant percentage of our net revenue. There was no customer with sales representing more than 10% of net revenue in fiscal 2024. Sales to our ten largest customers comprised 53.6% and 53.5% of our net revenue for fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2023, respectively.
We expect that a small number of customers will continue to account for a high percentage of our net revenue for the foreseeable future. Thus, our business success depends on our ability to maintain strong relationships with our customers and closely understand their present and anticipated utilization rates. Any one of a number of factors could adversely affect these relationships. If, for example, during periods of escalating demand for our equipment, we were unable to add inventory or increase our production capacity quickly enough to meet the needs of our customers, or if we are not able to fulfil our customers' orders due to supply chain constraints, they may turn to other suppliers making it more difficult for us to retain their business. We may also make commitments from time-to-time to our customers regarding minimum volumes and performance standards, and if we are unable to meet those commitments, we may incur liabilities to our customers. If we lose orders from a significant customer that we are not
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able to replace, or if a significant customer reduces its orders substantially, or if we incur liabilities for not meeting customer commitments, these losses, reductions or liabilities may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We maintain a backlog of customer orders that is subject to cancellation, reduction or delay in delivery schedules, which may result in lower than expected revenues.
We manufacture products primarily pursuant to purchase orders for current delivery or to forecast, rather than pursuant to long-term supply contracts. As a result, we must commit resources to the manufacture of products without binding purchase commitments from customers. The semiconductor industry is occasionally subject to double-booking and rapid changes in customer outlooks or unexpected build ups of inventory in the supply channel as a result of shifts in end market demand and macro-economic conditions. Accordingly, many of these purchase orders or forecasts may be revised or canceled without penalty. Even in cases where our standard terms and conditions of sale or other contractual arrangements do not permit a customer to cancel an order without penalty, we may from time to time accept cancellations to maintain customer relationships or because of industry practice, custom or other factors. The broad-based weakening in the global macroeconomic environment may result in lower than expected demand for our products, and our inability to sell products after we devote significant resources to them could have a material adverse effect on our levels of inventory, revenues and profitability.
The cancellation and wind down of the Project may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In connection with the cancellation of a project with one of its customers (previously referred to as Project W) (the "Project"), on March 11, 2024, the Company committed to a plan to cease operational activities and commence wind down activities concerning various aspects of the Project. As of September 28, 2024, the wind down activities have been substantially completed and as a result of these activities, the Company incurred certain charges during fiscal year 2024. The Company's estimates of the anticipated impact on its results of operations and the timing thereof are subject to a number of assumptions and actual amounts may differ materially from estimates. As we further wind down the Project, we may discover other facts that could require us to incur additional expenses and/or record additional charges that may be different from our initial expectations about the costs of the wind down. In addition, we may not be able to complete the wind down in all respects due to factors outside of our control. If actual amounts were to differ from our estimates, or if the full and complete wind down takes longer than expected, our results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. Cancellations of significant orders or other similar projects by other customers in the future could also cause the Company to incur additional costs or expenses or lead to a reduction in future revenue, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
As a result of the cancellation of the Project, the Company has refocused its development resources towards other growth-centric opportunities supporting technology changes within the thermocompression, Vertical Fan-Out, Automotive and Dispense markets. The Company may experience operational difficulties as it shifts its development resources to these other opportunities, which may result in disruptions to the Company's operations. We cannot be certain that these efforts will be effective or successful, or that we will realize the anticipated benefits of the refocus. As a result, our results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Human Capital Risks
Our business depends on attracting and retaining management, sales and technical employees as well as on the succession of senior management.
Our future success depends on our ability to hire and retain qualified management, sales, finance, accounting and technical employees, including senior management. Experienced personnel with the relevant and necessary skill sets in our industry are in high demand and competition for their talents is intense, especially in Asia, where most of the Company’s key personnel are located. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain the managerial, marketing, finance, accounting and technical personnel we require, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.
Effective succession planning is also important to our long-term success. Failure to ensure effective transfer of knowledge and smooth transitions involving senior management could hinder our strategic planning and execution. From time to time, senior management or other key employees may leave our Company, and the loss of any key employee could result in significant disruptions to our operations, including adversely affecting the timeliness of product releases, the successful implementation and completion of company initiatives, the effectiveness of our
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disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting, and the results of our operations. Changes in immigration policies may also impair our ability to recruit and hire technical and professional talent. In addition, hiring, training, and successfully integrating replacement critical personnel could be time consuming, may cause additional disruptions to our operations, and may be unsuccessful, which could negatively impact future revenues.
Product Risks
Alternative packaging technologies may render some of our products obsolete and materially and adversely affect our overall business and financial results.
Alternative packaging technologies have emerged that may improve device performance, reduce the size of or enhance the number of components inherent in an integrated circuit package, as compared to traditional wire bonding. These technologies include hybrid bonding, thermo-compression bonding, flip chip bonding and wafer-level packaging. Some of these alternative technologies eliminate the need for wires to establish the electrical connection between a die and its package. The semiconductor industry may, in the future, shift a significant part of its volume into alternative packaging technologies which do not employ our products. If a significant shift to alternative packaging technologies or to another technology not offered by us were to occur, demand for our equipment and related packaging materials may be materially and adversely affected. Given that a majority of our revenue comes from wire bonding, a reduced demand for our wire bonding equipment could materially and adversely affect our financial results.
We may send products and equipment to customers or potential customers for trial, evaluation or other purposes which may result in retrofit charges, impairments or write-down of inventory value if the products and equipment are not subsequently purchased by the customers.
From time to time we send certain products and equipment to customers or potential customers for testing, evaluation or other purposes in advance of receiving any confirmation of purchase or purchase orders. Such equipment may be at the customer location for an extended period of time per the agreements with these customers and potential customers. The customer or potential customer may refuse to buy all or partial quantities of such product or equipment and return this back to us. As a result, we may incur charges to retrofit the machines or sell the machines as second hand at a lower price, and accordingly may have to record impairments on the returned inventory, all of which would adversely affect our operating results.
Undetected problems in our products could directly impair our financial results.
If errata (deviations from product specifications) or flaws in design, production, assembly or testing of our products (by us or our suppliers) were to occur, we could experience a rate of failure in our products that would result in materially adverse consequences, including:
incurring warranty expenses;
writing off the value of inventory;
disposing of products that cannot be fixed;
retrofitting products that have been shipped;
providing product replacements or modifications; and
defending against litigation.
Continued improvement in manufacturing capabilities, control of material, emphasis on product safety and manufacturing quality and costs and product testing are critical factors in our future growth. Our efforts to monitor, develop, modify and implement appropriate tests and manufacturing processes for our products may not be sufficient to permit us to avoid a rate of failure in our products that results in substantial delays in shipment, significant repair or replacement costs, potential damage to our reputation or general customer dissatisfaction with our products. We may also not be able to successfully claim against our suppliers or obtain product liability or other insurance to fully cover such risks. Any of the foregoing risks, if they were to materialize, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.


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Operations and Supply Chain Risks
We may not be able to continue to consolidate or relocate manufacturing and other facilities or entities without incurring unanticipated costs and disruptions to our business.
As part of our ongoing efforts to drive further efficiency, we may consolidate or relocate our manufacturing and other facilities or entities. Should we consolidate or relocate, we may experience unanticipated events, including the actions of governments, suppliers, employees, union representatives or customers, which may result in unanticipated costs and disruptions to our business. We may also incur restructuring charges, severance costs, asset impairments, loss of accumulated knowledge, inefficiency during transitional periods, employee attrition and other effects that could negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
We may be materially and adversely affected by environmental and safety laws and regulations, including laws and regulations implemented in response to climate change.
We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, storage, use, emission, discharge, transportation and disposal of hazardous material, investigation and remediation of contaminated sites and the health and safety of our employees. Public attention continues to focus on the environmental impact of manufacturing operations and the risk to neighbors of waste and chemical releases from such operations.
Proper waste disposal plays an important role in the operation of our manufacturing plants. Most of our facilities operate under permits that must be renewed periodically. A violation of those permits may lead to revocation of the permits, fines, penalties or the incurrence of capital or other costs to comply with the permits, including the potential shutdown of operations.
Compliance with existing or future land use, environmental, climate-related and health and safety laws and regulations may: (1) result in significant costs to us for additional capital equipment or other process requirements; (2) restrict our ability to expand our operations; and/or (3) cause us to curtail our operations. We also could incur significant costs, including cleanup costs, fines or other sanctions and third-party claims for property damage or personal injury, as a result of violations of or liabilities under such laws and regulations.
Increasingly, various agencies and governmental bodies have expressed interest in promulgating rules relating to climate change. For example, in March 2022, the SEC published a proposed rule that would require companies to provide significantly expanded climate-related disclosures in their Form 10-K, which may require us to incur significant additional costs to comply and impose increased oversight obligations on our management and Board of Directors. The cost of complying, or of failing to comply, with these and other regulatory requirements or contractual obligations could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and ability to conduct our business.
In addition, changes in environmental laws and regulations (including any relating to climate change and greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions) could require us, or others in our value chain, to install additional equipment, alter operations to incorporate new technologies or processes and generally enhance audit, surveillance and compliance measures.
To the extent that higher costs incurred from the above activities result in higher prices for our products, we may experience a reduction in the demand for those products, which could negatively affect our results of operations. Conversely, we may not be able to pass these increased costs onto our customers in the form of higher prices, as a result of which our results of operations may also be adversely affected.
We may acquire or divest businesses or enter into joint ventures or strategic alliances, which may materially affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We continually evaluate our portfolio of businesses and may decide to buy or sell businesses or enter into joint ventures or other strategic alliances. We may not find suitable acquisition candidates, we may not be able to close such acquisitions, and the acquisitions we complete may not be successful. We may be unable to successfully integrate acquired businesses with our existing businesses and successfully implement, improve and expand our systems, procedures and controls to accommodate these acquisitions. If we are not able to successfully integrate any acquired businesses with ours, the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions may not be realized fully or may take longer than expected to be realized. We may also incur higher than expected costs as a result of any acquisitions or experience an overall post-completion process that takes longer than originally anticipated.
These transactions place additional demands on our management, our various functional teams and our current labor force. The combination of businesses may result in the loss of key personnel or an interruption of, or loss of
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momentum in, our existing businesses and/or the acquired business. In addition, we may need to divest existing businesses, which would cause a decline in revenue or profitability and may make our financial results more volatile. If we fail to integrate and manage acquired businesses successfully or to mitigate the risks associated with divestitures, joint ventures or other alliances, or if the time and costs associated with integration exceeds our expectations, or if our acquired business were to perform poorly, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.
Increasing attention to ESG matters, including any targets or other ESG initiatives, could result in additional costs or risks or adversely impact our business
Certain investors, shareholder advocacy groups, other market participants, customers and other stakeholder groups have focused increasingly on companies' environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) initiatives, including those concerning climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, human rights, diversity and inclusion, and shareholder proxy access. This may result in increased costs, enhanced compliance or disclosure obligations and related costs, or other adverse impacts on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
From time to time, we create and publish voluntary disclosures regarding ESG matters. Our sustainability report continues to outline our Company’s strategies, initiatives and performance of ESG topics identified through a materiality assessment to be most relevant to the operations and stakeholders of our Company. In fiscal 2023, we performed an independent, limited external assurance of our direct (Scope 1) and purchased energy indirect (Scope 2) greenhouse gas emission data under the operational control boundary of eight of our global operational sites, and published such limited external assurance in our sustainability report. However, the identification, assessment, and disclosure of such matters remains complex. Many of the statements in such voluntary disclosures are based on our expectations and assumptions, which may require substantial discretion and forecasts about costs and future circumstances.
Additionally, ESG matters continue to evolve rapidly. Organizations that provide information to investors on ESG matters may develop more discrete rating matrices, benchmarks and processes on evaluating companies on their ESG approach. This may create opportunities for misalignment or perceived failure resulting in unfavorable ESG ratings. This could foster negative investor sentiment toward us, our customers, or our industry, which could negatively impact our business and operations. To the extent ESG matters negatively impact our reputation, it may also impede our ability to compete as effectively to recruit or retain employees, which may adversely affect our operations.
Intellectual Property Risks
Our success depends in part on our intellectual property, which we may be unable to protect.
Our success depends in part on our proprietary technology. To protect this technology, we rely principally on contractual restrictions (such as nondisclosure and confidentiality provisions) in our agreements with employees, subcontractors, vendors, consultants and customers and on the common law of trade secrets and proprietary “know-how”. We also rely, in some cases, on patent and copyright protection, although this protection may in some cases be insufficient due to the rapid development of technology in our industry. We may not be successful in protecting our technology for a number of reasons, including the following:
employees, subcontractors, vendors, consultants and customers may violate their contractual agreements or post-employment non-competition obligations, and the cost of enforcing those agreements may be prohibitive, or those agreements may be unenforceable or more limited than we anticipate;
foreign intellectual property laws may not adequately protect our intellectual property rights;
our patent and copyright claims may not be sufficiently broad to effectively protect our technology; our patents or copyrights may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented; or we may otherwise be unable to obtain adequate protection for our technology; and
when our patents expire, or if they are invalidated, narrowed or circumvented, our competitors may be able to utilize the inventions protected by our patents.
Also, competitors may copy or misappropriate our trade secrets, products or designs either through lawful means of reverse engineering or through independent development. We remain vigilant and take note of similar products and solutions offered by our competitors and, based on reasonable efforts, investigate whether any of our competitors’ products or solutions is the outcome of unlawful reverse engineering. For example, we are currently investigating a
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potential unlawful reverse engineering incident and, where necessary, plan to pursue appropriate legal action against parties that may be involved in such unlawful reverse engineering.
Competitors or third parties (including ex-employees violating their surviving contractual obligations with us) may also copy or reverse engineer aspects of our products or solutions through unlawful means, or illegally use information that we regard as proprietary. While we conduct active surveillance and monitor potential threats surrounding any unauthorized use from competitors or third parties, we may not be able to detect misuse of our proprietary information before it occurs. For example, as a result of our active surveillance, we have learned that certain ex-employees in China, who had access to materials containing proprietary information and trade secrets about our products and designs, may have provided them to their current employer that is our direct competitor. We continue to fully investigate this matter and, if appropriate, pursue litigation against all parties that may be involved to protect our confidential information and trade secrets.
Despite our best efforts in active surveillance and monitoring, such policing may be difficult, time-consuming, non-definitive and non-exhaustive, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property.
Additionally, laws of foreign countries may not provide us with adequate remedy against unauthorized use of our intellectual property, or we may be unable to prove unauthorized use as prescribed by such foreign laws. In either case, if the protection of our intellectual property proves to be inadequate or unenforceable, others may be able to use our proprietary developments without compensation or appropriate remediation to us, resulting in potential cost advantages to our competitors and consequentially eroding our market share.
Furthermore, our partners and alliances may have rights to technology developed by us. We may incur significant expense to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our competitive position may be weakened.
Third parties may claim we are infringing on their intellectual property, which could cause us to incur significant litigation costs or other expenses, or prevent us from selling some of our products.
The semiconductor industry is characterized by rapid technological change, with frequent introductions of new products and technologies. Industry participants often develop products and features similar to those introduced by others, creating a risk that their products and processes may give rise to claims they infringe on the intellectual property of others. We may unknowingly infringe on the intellectual property rights of others and incur significant liability for that infringement. If we are found to have infringed on the intellectual property rights of others, we could be enjoined from continuing to manufacture, market or use the affected product, or be required to obtain a license to continue manufacturing or using the affected product. A license could be very expensive to obtain or may not be available at all. Similarly, changing or re-engineering our products or processes to avoid infringing the rights of others may be costly, impractical or time consuming.
Occasionally, third parties assert that we are, or may be, infringing on or misappropriating their intellectual property rights. Some of these assertions may not be legitimate. In these cases, we defend or in some instances dispel, and will continue to defend or dispel, against claims or negotiate licenses where we consider these actions appropriate. Intellectual property cases are uncertain, time-consuming and involve complex legal and factual questions. If we become involved in this type of litigation, it could consume significant resources and divert our attention from our business.
Information Technology and Enterprise System Risks
We may be subject to disruptions or failures in our information technology systems and network infrastructures that could have a material adverse effect on us.
We maintain and rely extensively on information technology systems and network infrastructures for the effective operation of our business. We also hold large amounts of data in data center facilities around the world, primarily in Singapore and the U.S., on which our business depends. A disruption, infiltration or failure of our information technology systems owned or used by us or any of our data centers as a result of software or hardware malfunctions, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, employee theft or misuse, power disruptions, natural disasters or accidents could cause breaches of data security and loss of critical data, which in turn could materially adversely affect our business. Our security procedures, such as virus protection software, data loss protection and our business continuity planning, such as our disaster recovery policies and back-up systems, may not be adequate or implemented properly to fully address the adverse effect of such events, which could adversely impact our operations.
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In addition, our business could be adversely affected to the extent we do not make the appropriate level of investment in our technology systems as our technology systems become out-of-date or obsolete and are not able to deliver the type of data integrity and reporting we need to run our business. Furthermore, when we implement new systems and/or upgrade existing systems, we could be faced with temporary or prolonged disruptions that could adversely affect our business. For example, artificial intelligence (“AI”) may be used to generate cyberattacks with greater scale and efficacy than the traditional threat actors. In other instance, a cybersecurity threat could be introduced as the result of our business partners incorporating the output of an AI tool that includes a threat, such as introducing malicious code by incorporating an AI generated source code.
We have experienced, and expect to continue to be subject to, cybersecurity threats and incidents, ranging from employee error or misuse, to individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to information systems, to sophisticated and targeted measures known as advanced persistent threats, none of which have been material to the Company to date. For example, in May 2024, the Company detected unauthorized access attempts into its network and servers and determined that the threat actor accessed and acquired some of its data, including source code, engineering information, business partner data and personally identifiable information. The Company believes that this cybersecurity incident has not had a material impact on the Company's operations, and the Company currently does not expect that this incident is reasonably likely to materially impact the Company's overall financial condition, results of operations or business outlook. Notwithstanding the foregoing, future attempts or breaches might, especially given that threat actors may leverage other means and technologies, including artificial intelligence, to circumvent controls and avoid detection. We devote significant resources to network security and other measures to protect our systems and data from unauthorized access or misuse. However, our cybersecurity risk management, process, protocols and tools, may not be fully implemented or may not completely protect the Company against future cybersecurity incidents. Depending on its nature and scope, cybersecurity incidents could result in business disruption; misappropriation, corruption or loss of confidential information and critical data (of the Company or that belonging to its third parties); reputational damage; litigation with third parties; diminution in the value of our investment in research, development and engineering; data privacy issues; and increased cybersecurity protection and remediation costs.
We also try to protect the confidential nature of our proprietary information by using commonly accepted information technology systems and network security measures. Such measures may not provide adequate protection for our proprietary information. For example, our internal procedures may not prevent an existing or former employee or consultant from misappropriating our trade secrets and providing them to a competitor, and recourse we take against such misconduct may not provide an adequate remedy to fully protect our interests.
While we maintain insurance policies that may cover certain liabilities in connection with a cybersecurity incident, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred, that insurance will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
We are implementing a new enterprise resource planning system. Our failure to implement it successfully, on time and on budget could have a material adverse effect on us.
In 2020 we began implementing a new enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system, and will continue to implement the new system in phases across our various entities over the next two years. ERP implementations are complex, time-consuming, labor intensive, and involve substantial expenditures on system software and implementation activities. The ERP system is critical to our ability to provide important information to our management, obtain and deliver products, provide services and customer support, send invoices and track payments, fulfill contractual obligations, accurately maintain books and records, provide accurate, timely and reliable reports on our financial and operating results, and otherwise operate our business. ERP implementations also require transformation of business and financial processes in order to reap the benefits of the ERP system. Any such implementation involves risks inherent in the conversion to a new computer system, including loss of information and potential disruption to our normal operations. The implementation and maintenance of the new ERP system has required, and will continue to require, the investment of significant financial and human resources and the implementation may be subject to delays and cost overruns. In addition, we may not be able to successfully complete the implementation of the new ERP system without experiencing difficulties.
Any disruptions, delays or deficiencies in the design and implementation or the ongoing maintenance of the new ERP system could adversely affect our ability to process orders, ship products, provide services and customer support, send invoices and track payments, fulfill contractual obligations, accurately maintain books and records, provide accurate, timely and reliable reports on our financial and operating results, including reports required by the
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SEC such as the evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and otherwise operate our business. Additionally, if we do not effectively implement the ERP system as planned or the system does not operate as intended, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could be adversely affected or our ability to assess it adequately could be delayed.
Currency and Tax Risks
We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates that could negatively impact our financial results and cash flows.
Because most of our foreign sales are denominated in U.S. dollar, an increase in value of the U.S. dollar against foreign currencies will make our products more expensive than those offered by some of our foreign competitors. In addition, a weakening of the U.S. dollar against other currencies could make our costs in certain non-U.S. locations more expensive to fund. Our ability to compete overseas may therefore be materially and adversely affected by the fluctuations of the U.S. dollar against other currencies.
Because nearly all of our business is conducted outside the U.S., we face exposure to adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates which could have a material adverse impact on our financial results and cash flows. Historically, our primary exposures have related to net working capital exposures denominated in currencies other than the foreign subsidiaries’ functional currency, and remeasurement of our foreign subsidiaries’ net monetary assets from the subsidiaries’ local currency into the subsidiaries’ functional currency. In general, an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar could require certain of our foreign subsidiaries to record translation and remeasurement gains. Conversely, a decrease in the value of the U.S. dollar could require certain of our foreign subsidiaries to record losses on translation and remeasurement. An increase in the value of the U.S. dollar could increase the cost to our customers of our products in those markets outside the U.S. where we sell in U.S. dollars, and a weakened U.S. dollar could increase the cost of local operating expenses and procurement of raw materials, both of which could have an adverse effect on our cash flows. Our primary exposures include the Singapore Dollar, Chinese Yuan, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, Philippine Peso, Thai Baht, Taiwan Dollar, South Korean Won, Israeli Shekel, Malaysian Ringgit and Euro. Although we have entered into foreign exchange forward contracts from time to time to hedge our operating expenses against certain foreign currency exposure, our attempts to hedge against these risks may not be successful and may result in a material adverse impact on our financial results and cash flows.
Changes to our existing tax incentive in Singapore may materially reduce our reported results of operations in future periods.
Our existing tax incentive, scheduled to expire in January 2025, allows certain classes of income to be subject to reduced income tax rates in Singapore provided we meet certain employment and investment conditions. If we cannot, or elect not to, comply with these conditions, we could be required to refund material tax benefits previously realized with respect to this tax incentive. There cannot be assurances that we are able to benefit from future tax incentives granted by the Singapore government beyond the expiration of our existing tax incentive. In the absence of any tax incentive, the income tax rate in Singapore that would otherwise apply is 17%, which would result in a significant increase in our provision for (benefit from) income taxes in future periods.
Changes in tax legislation could adversely impact our future profitability.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and many foreign jurisdictions. Tax laws and regulations are continuously evolving with corporate tax reform, base-erosion efforts, global minimum tax, and increased transparency continuing to be high priorities in many tax jurisdictions in which we operate. Although the timing and methods of implementation may vary, many countries, including those in the Asia/Pacific region in which we have significant operations, have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, legislation or practices inspired by the base erosion and profit shifting project undertaken by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”), for example, Pillar Two. While we do not expect Pillar Two to have a material tax impact in fiscal 2025, we will continue to monitor new tax legislation and other developments since changes in tax legislation, or in the interpretation of existing legislation, could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
Other changes in taxation could materially impact our future effective tax rate.
Additionally, our future effective tax rate could be affected by numerous other factors including higher or lower than anticipated foreign earnings in various jurisdictions where we are subjected to tax rates that differ from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate, by changes in the valuation allowances recorded against certain deferred tax balances, or
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by changes in accounting principles and reporting requirements, or including the interpretations and application of such accounting principles and reporting requirements. Changes in our assertion for foreign earnings, whether permanently or non-permanently reinvested, as a result of changes in facts and circumstances or challenges by tax authorities to our historic or future tax positions and transfer pricing policies, could also significantly adversely impact our future effective tax rate.
Risks Related to Our Shares and Corporate Law
We have the ability to issue additional equity securities, which would lead to dilution of our issued and outstanding common stock.
We may from time to time issue additional equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, which would result in dilution of our existing shareholders’ equity interests in us. Our board of directors has the authority to issue, without vote or action of shareholders, preferred shares in one or more series, and has the ability to fix the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of any such series. Any such series of preferred shares could contain dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, redemption prices, liquidation preferences or other rights superior to the rights of holders of our common stock. In addition, we are authorized to issue, without shareholder approval, up to an aggregate of 200 million common stock, of which approximately 53.9 million shares were outstanding as of September 28, 2024. We are also authorized to issue, without shareholder approval (except as required by the rules of the Nasdaq stock market), securities convertible into either common stock or preferred stock. We may issue such shares in connection with financing transactions, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions or other purposes. In addition, our shareholders will experience additional dilution when performance or restricted share units vest and settle, when we issue equity awards to our employees under our equity incentive plans, or when we otherwise issue additional equity.
Anti-takeover provisions in our articles of incorporation and bylaws and under Pennsylvania law may discourage other companies from attempting to acquire us.
Some provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws as well as Pennsylvania law may discourage some transactions where we would otherwise experience a fundamental change. For example, our articles of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that:
classify our board of directors into four classes, with one class being elected each year;
permit our board to issue “blank check” preferred shares without shareholder approval; and
prohibit us from engaging in some types of business combinations with a holder of 20% or more of our voting securities without super-majority board or shareholder approval.
Further, under the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law, because our shareholders approved bylaw provisions that provide for a classified board of directors, shareholders may remove directors only for cause. These provisions and some other provisions of the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law could delay, defer or prevent us from experiencing a fundamental change and may adversely affect our common shareholders' voting and other rights.
If our internal controls over financial reporting or our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or file our periodic reports in a timely manner, which may cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and may lead to a decline in the trading price of our common stock.
As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and provide a management report on our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. If we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to certify that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our consolidated financial statements may contain material misstatements and we could be required to revise or restate our financial results. This could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, restrict our ability to access the capital markets, require us to expend significant resources to correct the material weakness, subject us to fines, penalties or judgments, harm our reputation, adversely affect the trading price of our common stock, or otherwise cause a decline in investor confidence.
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Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.

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Item 1C. CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
We rely on information systems and the data stored on them to conduct our operations. We have adopted and maintain a cybersecurity risk management program, as a subset of our broader enterprise risk management program, which is designed in accordance with our risk profile and business. Our cybersecurity risk management program has been informed by industry standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (“NIST CSF”).
Our cybersecurity risk management program incorporates multiple components, including, but not limited to, policies, guidelines, procedures, infrastructure, and systems that are designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our critical systems and information.
Elements of our cybersecurity risk management process include, but are not limited to, the following:
Annual cybersecurity risk assessments of critical infrastructure and systems;
Annual vulnerability scans and penetration testing;
Mandatory, bi-annual cybersecurity awareness training for all employees, including phishing exercises; and
An overarching written information security policy and written cybersecurity incident response plan that includes procedures for responding to cybersecurity incidents.
We leverage IT service providers to perform penetration testing and support our cybersecurity awareness training program. We oversee cybersecurity risks related to third-party IT cloud service providers who have access to our systems and data. We require certain IT cloud service providers to complete cloud-based cybersecurity assessments.
We have not identified any cybersecurity incidents or threats that have materially affected us or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. However, like other companies in our industry, we and our third-party vendors have from time to time experienced cybersecurity threats and other security incidents that have affected our information or systems. We have experienced, and expect to continue to be subject to, cybersecurity threats and incidents, ranging from employee error or misuse to individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to information systems, to sophisticated and targeted measures known as advanced persistent threats, none of which have been material to the Company to date.
For additional information on certain risks associated with cybersecurity, including with respect to prior cybersecurity incidents, please refer to “We may be subject to disruptions or failures in our information technology systems and network infrastructures that could have a material adverse effect on us” in Item 1A: Risk Factors.
Cybersecurity Governance
Our Board of Directors (the “Board”) has delegated responsibility for enterprise risk management, including cybersecurity risk oversight, to our Audit Committee (the “Committee”). The Committee receives quarterly information security updates from our Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Information Technology (VP of IT). The Committee in turn reports to the full Board regarding its activities, including those related to cybersecurity, on at least a bi-annual basis.
The VP of IT has twenty seven years of experience in information technology, fifteen of which have involved IT leadership for various organizations. Our Director, IT Governance and Security (the “Director, IT”) reports to our VP of IT and is responsible for the day-to-day management of our cybersecurity risk management program. The Director, IT has eighteen years of experience in information technology. The Director, IT receives support from our operational team which comprises cybersecurity, IT, controllership, and legal professionals who regularly review cybersecurity matters and evaluate emerging threats, as well as act as first responders to triage any cybersecurity incidents. In the event of a cybersecurity incident, the Committee and Board receive updates from this team on an ad-hoc basis, if appropriate, under our tiered escalation support framework.
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Item 2. PROPERTIES
The following table reflects our major facilities as of September 28, 2024:
CountryFacility (1)Approximate SizeFunctionReportable Segment
SingaporeSerangoon251,000 sq. ft.Corporate headquarters, manufacturing, technology, sales and service centerBall Bonding Equipment
Wedge Bonding Equipment
Advanced Solutions
ChinaSuzhou155,000 sq. ft.Manufacturing, technology and shared support services centerAPS
The NetherlandsEindhoven116,000 sq. ft.Manufacturing, technology, sales and service centerAll Others
United StatesFort Washington, Pennsylvania88,000 sq. ft.Corporate headquarters, technology, sales and service center
Ball Bonding Equipment
Advanced Solutions
Santa Ana, California65,000 sq. ft.Technology, sales and service centerWedge Bonding Equipment
IsraelHaifa31,000 sq. ft.Manufacturing and technology centerAPS
TaiwanTaipei20,000 sq. ft.Manufacturing and technology centerAll Others
(1)Each of the facilities listed in this table is leased other than the facilities in Suzhou, China and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.
In addition, the Company rents space for sales support, customer support, services and administrative functions in China, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. The Company believes the facilities are generally in good condition and suitable to the extent of utilization needed.

Item 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
From time to time, we may be a plaintiff or defendant in legal proceedings and claims arising out of our business. We are party to ordinary, routine litigation incidental to our business. We cannot be assured of the results of any pending or future litigation, but we do not believe resolution of any currently pending matters will materially or adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results.

Item 4.    MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5.    MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Our common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Global Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “KLIC.” Based on data provided by The Depository Trust Company, on November 11, 2024, the management believes that there were approximately 290 holders of record of the shares of outstanding common stock, as defined by Rule 12g5-1 of the Exchange Act.
On August 26, 2024, May 16, 2024, March 14, 2024 and November 15, 2023, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend $0.20 per share of common stock, resulting in an aggregate dividend of $0.80 per share of common stock for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024. The declaration of any future cash dividend is at the discretion of the Board of Directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, business conditions and other factors, as well as a determination that such dividends are in the best interests of the Company’s stockholders.
For the purpose of calculating the aggregate market value of shares of our common stock held by non-affiliates, as shown on the cover page of this Annual Report, we have assumed all of our outstanding shares were held by non-affiliates except for shares held by our directors and executive officers. However, this does not necessarily mean that all directors and executive officers of the Company are, in fact, affiliates of the Company, or there are no other persons who may be deemed to be affiliates of the Company. Further information concerning the beneficial ownership of our executive officers, directors and principal shareholders will be included in our Proxy Statement for the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities and Use of Proceeds
None.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
The following table summarizes the repurchases of common stock during the three months ended September 28, 2024 (in thousands, except per share amounts):
PeriodTotal Number of Shares PurchasedAverage Price Paid Per ShareTotal Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs
Approximate Dollar Value of Shares That May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (1)
June 30, 2024 to July 27, 2024242 $49.15 242 $61,009 
July 28, 2024 to August 31, 2024409 $42.76 409 $43,532 
September 1, 2024 to September 28, 2024325 $40.84 325 $30,251 
For the three months ended September 28, 2024976 976 
(1)On August 15, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a program (the “Program”) to repurchase up to $100 million in total of the Company’s common stock on or before August 1, 2020. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, the Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization under the Program to $200 million, $300 million and $400 million respectively. On March 3, 2022, the Board of Directors further increased the share repurchase authorization under the Company’s existing share repurchase program by an additional $400 million to $800 million, and extended its duration through August 1, 2025. The Company may purchase shares of its common stock through open market and privately negotiated transactions at prices deemed appropriate by management. On May 7, 2022, the Company entered into a written trading plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act to facilitate repurchases under the Program. This trading plan was most recently modified on May 29, 2023. The Program may be suspended or discontinued at any time and will be funded using the Company’s available cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. The timing and amount of repurchase transactions under the Program depend on market conditions as well as corporate and regulatory considerations.
Item 6. [Reserved]
Not applicable.
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Item 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This section of this Form 10-K generally discusses fiscal 2024 and 2023 items and year-to-year comparisons between fiscal 2024 and 2023. Discussions of fiscal 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between fiscal 2023 and 2022 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of the 2023 Annual Report filed on November 16, 2023 (the "2023 Annual Report").
Our Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) is provided in addition to the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes to assist readers in understanding our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. The MD&A is organized as follows:
Overview: Introduction of our operations, key events, business environment, technology leadership, products and services
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Results of Operations
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Other Obligations and Contingent Payments
Overview
For an overview of our business, please see “Part I, Item 1 — Business”.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements requires us to make assumptions, estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, net revenue and expenses during the reporting periods, and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate estimates, including, but not limited to, those related to accounts receivable, reserves for excess and obsolete inventory, carrying value and lives of fixed assets, goodwill and intangible assets, income taxes, equity-based compensation expense and warranties. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable. As a result, we make judgments regarding the carrying values of our assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Authoritative pronouncements, historical experience and assumptions are used as the basis for making estimates, and on an ongoing basis, we evaluate these estimates. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
We believe the following critical accounting policies, which have been reviewed with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, reflect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.
Revenue Recognition
In accordance with ASC No. 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, the Company recognizes revenue when we satisfy performance obligations as evidenced by the transfer of control of our products or services to customers. In general, the Company generates revenue from product sales, either directly to customers or to distributors. In determining whether a contract exists, we evaluate the terms of the agreement, the relationship with the customer or distributor and their ability to pay.
The Company recognizes revenue from sales of our products, including sales to our distributors, at a point in time, generally upon shipment or delivery to the customer or distributor, depending upon the terms of the sales order. Control is considered transferred when title and risk of loss pass, when the customer becomes obligated to pay and, where applicable, when the customer has accepted the products or upon expiration of the acceptance period. For sales to distributors, payment is due on our standard commercial terms and is not contingent upon resale of the products.

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Our business is subject to contingencies related to customer orders, including:
Right of Return: A large portion of our revenue comes from the sale of equipment used in the semiconductor assembly process. Other product sales relate to consumable products, which are sold in high-volume quantities, and are generally maintained at low stock levels at the customer’s facility. Customer returns have historically represented a very small percentage of customer sales on an annual basis.
Warranties: Our equipment is generally shipped with a one-year warranty against manufacturing defects. We establish reserves for estimated warranty expense when revenue for the related equipment is recognized. The reserve for estimated warranty expense is based upon historical experience and management’s estimate of future expenses, including product parts replacement, freight charges and labor costs expected to be incurred to correct product failures during the warranty period.
Conditions of Acceptance: Sales of our consumable products generally do not have customer acceptance terms. In certain cases, sales of our equipment have customer acceptance clauses which may require the equipment to perform in accordance with customer specifications or when installed at the customer’s facility. In such cases, if the terms of acceptance are satisfied at our facility prior to shipment, the revenue for the equipment will be recognized upon shipment. If the terms of acceptance are satisfied at our customers’ facilities, the revenue for the equipment will not be recognized until acceptance, which is typically obtained after installation and testing, is received from the customer.
Service revenue is generally recognized over time as the services are performed.
The Company measures revenue based on the amount of consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for products or services. Any variable consideration such as sales incentives are recognized as a reduction of net revenue at the time of revenue recognition.
The Company’s performance obligations relate to contracts with a duration of less than one year, therefore as allowed under ASC 606, we have opted not to disclose the unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with original expected durations of less than one year.
The length of time between invoicing and payment is not significant under our payment terms. In instances where the timing of revenue recognition differs from the timing of invoicing, we have determined our contracts generally do not include a significant financing component. Shipping and handling costs billed to customers are recognized in net revenue.
Shipping and handling costs paid by the Company are included in cost of sales.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
We maintain allowances for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from our customers’ failure to make required payments. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required. We are subject to concentrations of customers and sales to a few geographic locations, which could also impact the collectability of certain receivables. If global or regional economic conditions deteriorate or political conditions were to change in some of the countries where we do business, it could have a significant impact on our results of operations, and our ability to realize the full value of our accounts receivable.
Inventories
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost (on a first-in, first-out basis) or net realizable value. We generally provide reserves for obsolete inventory and for inventory considered to be in excess of demand. Demand is generally defined as 18 months forecasted future consumption for equipment, 24 months forecasted future consumption for spare parts, and 12 months forecasted future consumption for tools. Forecasted consumption is based upon internal projections, historical sales volumes, customer order activity and a review of consumable inventory levels at customers’ facilities. We communicate forecasts of our future consumption to our suppliers and adjust commitments to those suppliers accordingly. If required, we reserve the difference between the carrying value of our inventory and the lower of cost or net realizable value, based upon projections about future consumption, and market conditions. If actual market conditions are less favorable than projections, additional inventory reserves may be required.
Inventory reserve provision for certain subsidiaries is determined based on management’s estimate of future consumption for equipment and spare parts. This estimate is based on historical sales volumes, internal projections and market developments and trends.
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Accounting for Impairment of Goodwill
ASC No. 350, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other requires goodwill and other intangible assets with indefinite lives to be reviewed for impairment annually, or more frequently if circumstances indicate a possible impairment. We assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. If, after assessing the qualitative factors, a company determines that it is not more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, then performing the impairment test is unnecessary. However, if a company concludes otherwise, then it is required to perform the goodwill impairment test. The Company’s impairment test is performed by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying value, and determining if the carrying amount exceeds its fair value.
As part of the annual evaluation, the Company performs an impairment test of its goodwill in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year to coincide with the completion of its annual forecasting and refreshing of its business outlook processes. On an ongoing basis, the Company monitors if a “triggering” event has occurred that may have the effect of reducing the fair value of a reporting unit below its respective carrying value. Adverse changes in expected operating results and/or unfavorable changes in other economic factors used to estimate fair values could result in a non-cash impairment charge in the future.
Impairment assessments inherently involve judgment as to the assumptions made about the expected future cash flows and the impact of market conditions on those assumptions. Future events and changing market conditions may impact the assumptions as to prices, costs, growth rates or other factors that may result in changes in the estimates of future cash flows. Although the Company believes the assumptions that it has used in testing for impairment are reasonable, significant changes in any one of the assumptions could produce a significantly different result. Indicators of potential impairment, including significant and unforeseen customer losses, a significant adverse change in legal factors or in the business climate, a significant adverse action or assessment by a regulator, a significant stock price decline or unanticipated competition, may lead the Company to perform interim goodwill impairment assessments.
The Company performed its annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 and elected to perform the quantitative impairment test as permitted by ASC 350. Based on the quantitative assessment performed on all its reporting units, the Company concluded that no impairment on the Company's recorded goodwill was required. The persistent macroeconomic headwinds could, in the future, require changes to assumptions utilized in the determination of the estimated fair values of the reporting units which could result in future goodwill impairment charges. Net sales and earnings growth rates could be negatively impacted by reductions or changes in demand for our products. The discount rate utilized in our valuation model could also be impacted by changes in the underlying interest rates and risk premiums included in the determination of the cost of capital. For further information on goodwill and other intangible assets, see Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8.
Income Taxes
In accordance with ASC No. 740, Income Taxes, deferred income taxes are determined using the balance sheet method. The Company records a valuation allowance to reduce its deferred tax assets to the amount expected, on a more likely than not basis, to be realized. While the Company has considered future taxable income and ongoing tax planning strategies in assessing the need for the valuation allowance, if it were to determine that it would be able to realize its deferred tax assets in the future in excess of its net recorded amount, an adjustment to deferred tax assets would increase income in the period when such determination is made. Likewise, should the Company determine that it would not be able to realize all or part of its deferred tax assets in the future, an adjustment to deferred tax assets would decrease income in the period when such determination is made.
The Company determines the amount of unrecognized tax benefit with respect to uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken on its income tax returns in accordance with ASC No. 740 Topic 10, Income Taxes, General (“ASC 740.10”). Under ASC 740.10, the Company utilizes a two-step approach for evaluating uncertain tax positions. Step one, or recognition, requires a company to determine if the weight of available evidence indicates a tax position is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination solely based on its technical merit. Step two, or measurement, is based on the largest amount of benefit, which is more likely than not to be realized on settlement with the taxing authority, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any.



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Equity-Based Compensation
The Company accounts for equity-based compensation under the provisions of ASC No. 718, Compensation - Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”). ASC 718 requires the recognition of the fair value of the equity-based compensation in net income. Compensation expense associated with Relative TSR Performance Share Units is determined using a Monte-Carlo valuation model, and compensation expense associated with time-based and Growth Performance Share Units is determined based on the number of shares granted and the fair value on the date of grant. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 for a summary of the terms of these performance-based awards. The fair value of equity-based awards is amortized over the vesting period of the award and the Company elected to use the straight-line method for awards granted after the adoption of ASC 718.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
See Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 for a description of certain recent accounting pronouncements, including the expected dates of adoption and effects on our consolidated results of operations and financial condition.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Results of Operations for fiscal 2024 and 2023
The following table reflects the (loss) / income from operations for fiscal 2024 and 2023:
 Fiscal  
(dollar amounts in thousands)20242023$ Change% Change
Net revenue$706,232 $742,491 $(36,259)(4.9)%
Cost of sales437,478 383,836 53,642 14.0 %
Gross profit268,754 358,655 (89,901)(25.1)%
Selling, general and administrative165,564 152,982 12,582 8.2 %
Research and development151,214 144,701 6,513 4.5 %
Impairment charges44,472 21,535 22,937 106.5 %
Operating expenses361,250 319,218 42,032 13.2 %
(Loss) / Income from operations$(92,496)$39,437 $(131,933)(334.5)%
Bookings and Backlog
Our backlog consists of customer orders scheduled for shipment within the next twelve months. A booking is recorded when a customer order is reviewed and it is determined that all specifications can be met, production (or service) can be scheduled, a delivery date can be set, and the customer meets our credit requirements. We use bookings to evaluate the results of our operations, generate future operating plans and assess the performance of our Company. While we believe that this measure is useful in evaluating our business, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and is not meant as a substitute for revenue recognized in accordance with GAAP. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate bookings differently or not at all, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure. Reconciliation of bookings to net revenue is not practicable. A majority of our orders are subject to cancellation or deferral by our customers with limited or no penalties. Also, customer demand for our products can vary dramatically without prior notice. Because of the volatility of customer demand, possibility of customer changes in delivery schedules or cancellations and potential delays in product shipments, our backlog as of any particular date may not be indicative of net revenue for any succeeding period.
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The following tables reflect the bookings and backlog for fiscal 2024 and 2023:
Fiscal
(in thousands)20242023
Bookings$430,994 $656,170 
As of
(in thousands)September 28, 2024September 30, 2023
Backlog$148,585 $423,824 
The semiconductor industry is volatile and our operating results are adversely impacted by volatile worldwide economic conditions. Though the semiconductor industry’s cycle can be independent of the general economy, global economic conditions may have a direct impact on demand for semiconductor units and ultimately demand for semiconductor capital equipment and expendable tools. Accordingly, our business and financial performance is impacted, both positively and negatively, by fluctuations in the macroeconomic environment. Our visibility into future demand is generally limited and forecasting is difficult. There can be no assurances regarding levels of demand for our products and we believe historical industry-wide volatility will persist.
The U.S. and several other countries have levied tariffs on certain goods. In particular, trade tensions between the U.S. and China have been escalating since 2018, with U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods and retaliatory Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods. These have resulted in uncertainties in the semiconductor, LED, memory and automotive markets. While the Company anticipates long-term growth in semiconductor consumption, we observed trade-related adverse impacts in demand from China, which continues to persist in fiscal 2024 and beyond.
Net Revenue
Our net revenues for fiscal 2024 decreased as compared to our net revenues for fiscal 2023. The decrease in net revenue is primarily due to lower volume in Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions and All Others, offset by the higher volumes in Ball Bonding Equipment as further outlined in the tables presented immediately below.
The following table reflects the net revenue by reportable segment for fiscal 2024 and 2023:
 Fiscal  
(dollar amounts in thousands)20242023$ Change% Change
Net revenue% of total net revenueNet revenue% of total net revenue
Ball Bonding Equipment$357,833 50.7 %$287,465 38.7 %$70,368 24.5 %
Wedge Bonding Equipment105,826 15.0 %175,550 23.6 %(69,724)(39.7)%
Advanced Solutions52,876 7.5 %72,256 9.7 %(19,380)(26.8)%
APS160,009 22.7 %160,718 21.6 %(709)(0.4)%
All Others29,688 4.1 %46,502 6.4 %(16,814)(36.2)%
Total net revenue$706,232 100.0 %$742,491 100.0 %$(36,259)(4.9)%

Ball Bonding Equipment
For fiscal 2024, the increase in Ball Bonding Equipment net revenue as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to higher volumes of customer purchases related to technology transitions and improving market conditions in general semiconductor and memory end markets. This has resulted in the reduction in semiconductor supply chain inventory levels and improved factory utilization levels.



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Wedge Bonding Equipment
For fiscal 2024, the lower Wedge Bonding Equipment net revenue as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to lower volume of customer purchases primarily in the general semiconductor market due to the lower power discrete devices demand, as well as in the automotive and renewable energy market.
Advanced Solutions
For fiscal 2024, the lower Advanced Solutions net revenue as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to lower volume of customer purchases primarily in the general semiconductor market and the cancellation of Project W.
All Others
For fiscal 2024, the lower net revenue in the “All Others” category as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to lower volume of customer purchases in the general semiconductor market and mini LED transfer solutions from softness in the advanced display market.
Gross Profit Margin
The following table reflects the gross profit as a percentage of net revenue by reportable segment for fiscal 2024 and 2023: 
 Fiscal
 20242023Basis point
change
Ball Bonding Equipment47.7 %45.6 %210 
Wedge Bonding Equipment46.7 %52.1 %(540)
Advanced Solutions(81.8)%37.4 %(11,920)
APS55.6 %55.2 %40 
All Others9.2 %44.4 %(3,520)
Total gross margin38.1 %48.3 %(1,020)

Ball Bonding Equipment
For fiscal 2024, the higher Ball Bonding Equipment gross profit margin as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily driven by a favorable product mix, including higher sales of higher margin products.
Wedge Bonding Equipment
For fiscal 2024, the lower Wedge Bonding Equipment gross profit margin as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily driven by less favorable product mix, including lower sales of higher margin products and a shift in customer mix, including higher sales to customers where we achieve lower average margins.
Advanced Solutions
For fiscal 2024, the lower Advanced Solutions gross profit margin as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily driven by the inventory write-down charges we incurred as a result of the cancellation of Project W and less favorable product mix, including lower sales of higher margin products.
All Others
For fiscal 2024, the lower All Others gross profit margin as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily driven by the overall lower volumes, the provision of excess and obsolete materials, less favorable product mix, including lower sales of higher margin products and the reversal of previously accrued customer credit program in the prior year period.

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Operating Expenses
The following table reflects the operating expenses for fiscal 2024 and 2023:
 Fiscal
(dollar amounts in thousands)20242023$ Change% Change
Selling, general and administrative$165,564 $152,982 $12,582 8.2 %
Research and development151,214 144,701 $6,513 4.5 %
Impairment charges44,472 21,535 $22,937 106.5 %
Total$361,250 $319,218 $42,032 13.2 %
Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”)
For fiscal 2024, the higher SG&A expenses as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to $4.8 million higher staff cost, $4.2 million higher sales representative commissions, $4.1 million severance expenses, $2.2 million higher miscellaneous expenses and $1.6 million higher professional services. This was partially offset by $4.8 million net favorable variance in foreign exchange.
Research and Development (“R&D”)
For fiscal 2024, the higher R&D expenses as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily to $8.4 million higher staff cost related to an increase in headcount and equity compensation, $4.1 million higher prototype materials and $1.1 million higher miscellaneous expenses. This was partially offset by $6.9 million lower professional services.
Impairment Charges
For fiscal 2024, the higher impairment charges as compared to the fiscal 2023 was due to $44.5 million impairment charges on long-lived assets related to the cancellation of Project W. The impairment charge in the fiscal 2023 relates to non-cash impairment charge of $21.5 million related to goodwill and intangible assets in the Lithography reporting unit, as well as on the investment in the non-marketable equity security.
(Loss)/Income from Operations
The following table reflect the income/(loss) from operations by reportable segment for fiscal 2024 and 2023:
 Fiscal  
(dollar amounts in thousands)20242023$ Change% Change
Ball Bonding Equipment$113,000 $81,929 $31,071 37.9 %
Wedge Bonding Equipment19,575 63,088 (43,513)(69.0)%
Advanced Solutions(155,350)(32,530)(122,820)(377.6)%
APS49,744 47,654 2,090 4.4 %
All Others(33,527)(36,797)3,270 8.9 %
Corporate expenses(85,938)(83,907)(2,031)(2.4)%
Total (loss)/income from operations$(92,496)$39,437 $(131,933)(334.5)%
Ball Bonding Equipment
For fiscal 2024, the higher Ball Bonding Equipment income from operations as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to the increase in revenue, gross margin and changes in operating expenses as explained under “Net Revenue”, "Gross Profit" and “Operating Expenses” above.
Wedge Bonding Equipment
For fiscal 2024, the lower Wedge Bonding Equipment income from operations as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to the decrease in revenue, gross margin and changes in operating expenses as explained under “Net Revenue”, "Gross Profit" and “Operating Expenses” above.
Advanced Solutions
For fiscal 2024, the higher Advanced Solutions loss from operations as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to the decrease in revenue, inventory write-down and impairment charges as explained under “Net Revenue”, “Gross Profit” and “Operating Expenses” above.
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All Others
For fiscal 2024, the lower All Others loss from operations as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to the decrease in revenue and changes in operating expenses as explained under “Net Revenue” and “Operating Expenses” above.
Interest Income and Expense
The following table reflects the interest income and interest expense for fiscal 2024 and 2023: 
 Fiscal  
(dollar amounts in thousands)20242023$ Change% Change
Interest income$34,230 $32,906 $1,324 4.0 %
Interest expense$(89)$(142)$53 (37.3)%
Interest income
For fiscal 2024, the higher interest income as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to higher weighted average interest rates on cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Provision for Income Taxes
The following table reflects the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate for fiscal 2024 and 2023: 
 Fiscal
(dollar amounts in thousands)20242023Change
Provision for income taxes$10,651 $15,053 $(4,402)
Effective tax rate(18.3)%20.8 %(39.1)%
For fiscal 2024, the decrease in provision for income taxes and effective tax rate as compared to fiscal 2023 was primarily due to a decrease in overall profitability, the tax impact of the one-time charge for cancellation of Project W, and the tax benefit from the U.S. Tax Court opinion in Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Commissioner related to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”) one-time transition tax, partially offset by an increase in valuation allowance.
Please refer to “Note 14: Income Taxes” to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 for additional information.

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The following table reflects the total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023:
 As of 
(dollar amounts in thousands)September 28, 2024September 30, 2023Change
Cash and cash equivalents$227,147 $529,402 $(302,255)
Short-term investments350,000 230,000 120,000 
Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments$577,147 $759,402 $(182,255)
Percentage of total assets46.5 %50.6 % 

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The following table reflects the summarized Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows information for fiscal 2024 and 2023:
 Fiscal
(in thousands)20242023
Net cash provided by operating activities$31,037 $173,404 
Net cash used in investing activities(138,501)(91,338)
Net cash used in financing activities(196,100)(111,876)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents1,309 3,675 
Changes in cash, and cash equivalents$(302,255)$(26,135)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period529,402 555,537 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period$227,147 $529,402 
Fiscal 2024
Net cash provided by operating activities consisted of net loss of $69.0 million, non-cash adjustments of $179.3 million and a net unfavourable change in operating assets and liabilities of $79.2 million. The non-cash adjustments were primarily due to impairment charges of $44.5 million and inventory write-down of $57.3 million as a result of the cancellation of the Project. The net change in operating assets and liabilities was primarily driven by an increase in accounts and notes receivable of $34.7 million, an increase in inventories of $31.5 million, and a decrease in income tax payable of $17.7 million. This was partially offset by a decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $9.1 million.
The increase in accounts and other receivable was primarily due to the timing of payments due. The increase in inventories was due to the buildup of long lead time materials to fulfill certain customer purchase orders. The decrease in income tax payable is primarily due to the current year payment of the U.S. one-time transition tax and tax benefit from the U.S. Tax Court opinion in Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Commissioner. The decrease in prepaid expenses was mainly due the transfer of contract assets to net account receivables.
The net cash used in investing activities was due to net purchase of short-term investments of $120.0 million, capital expenditures of $16.1 million and investment in a private equity fund of $2.4 million.
The net cash used in financing activities was primarily due to common stock repurchases of $150.8 million and dividend payments of $44.2 million.
Fiscal 2023
Net cash provided by operating activities consisted of net income of $57.1 million, non-cash adjustments of $73.8 million and a net favorable change in operating assets and liabilities of $42.4 million. The net change in operating assets and liabilities was primarily driven by a decrease in accounts and notes receivable of $152.7 million and prepaid expenses and other current assets of $8.6 million. This was partially offset by a decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities of $52.3 million, and income tax payable of $29.3 million, and an increase in inventories of $35.8 million.
The decrease in accounts and other receivable was primarily due to lower sales in fiscal 2023. The decrease in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities was primarily due to higher payments to suppliers, lower material purchases and lower accrued employee compensation that was paid out in the period. The increase in inventories was due to slower utilization in the period and buildup of long lead time materials to fulfill certain customer purchase orders. The decrease in income tax payable was primarily due to lower profitability.
The net cash used in investing activities was due to net purchase of short-term investments of $10.0 million, cash outflow for the acquisition of Advanced Jet Automation Co., Ltd. of $36.9 million and capital expenditures of $44.4 million.
The net cash used in financing activities was primarily due to common stock repurchases of $69.2 million and dividend payments of $42.0 million.

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Fiscal 2025 Liquidity and Capital Resource Outlook
We expect our fiscal 2025 capital expenditures to be between $13.0 million and $17.0 million. The actual amounts for fiscal 2025 will vary depending on market conditions. Expenditures are anticipated to be primarily used for research and development projects, enhancements to our manufacturing operations, improvements to our information technology security, ongoing implementation of our enterprise resource planning system and leasehold improvements for our facilities. Our ability to make these expenditures will depend, in part, on our future cash flows, which are determined by our future operating performance and, therefore, subject to prevailing macroeconomic conditions, trade tensions, inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, including the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, tensions in the Middle East, and the prolonged Ukraine/Russia conflict, and other factors, some of which are beyond our control.
As of September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023, approximately $302.6 million and $576.9 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments were held by the Company’s foreign subsidiaries, respectively, with a large portion of the cash amounts expected to be available for use in the U.S. without incurring additional U.S. income tax. The decrease is primarily due to the repatriation of cash held by the Company's foreign subsidiaries to the U.S.
The Company’s operations and capital requirements are funded primarily by cash on hand, cash generated by foreign operating activities and cash from our existing Facility Agreements. We believe these sources of cash and liquidity are sufficient to meet our additional liquidity needs for the foreseeable future including repayment of any outstanding balances under our existing Facility Agreements, as well as payment of dividends, share repurchases and income taxes.
We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments, existing Facility Agreements, and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our liquidity and capital requirements, notwithstanding the macroeconomic headwinds, for the next twelve months and beyond. Our liquidity is affected by many factors, some based on normal operations of our business and others related to macroeconomic conditions including inflationary pressures, industry-related uncertainties, and effects arising from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the prolonged Ukraine/Russia conflict, which we cannot predict. We also cannot predict economic conditions and industry downturns or the timing, strength or duration of recoveries. We intend to continue to use our cash for working capital needs and for general corporate purposes.
In this unprecedented macroeconomic environment, and as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the prolonged Ukraine/Russia conflict or for other reasons, we may seek, as we believe appropriate, additional debt or equity financing which would provide capital for corporate purposes, working capital funding, additional liquidity needs or to fund future growth opportunities, including possible acquisitions. The timing and amount of potential capital requirements cannot be determined at this time and will depend on a number of factors, including our actual and projected demand for our products, semiconductor and semiconductor capital equipment industry conditions, competitive factors, the condition of financial markets and the global economic situation.
Share Repurchase Program
On August 15, 2017, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a program (the "Program") to repurchase up to $100 million of the Company’s common stock on or before August 1, 2020. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, the Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization under the Program to $200 million, $300 million and $400 million, respectively. On March 3, 2022, the Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization under the Program by an additional $400 million to $800 million, and extended its duration through August 1, 2025. On November 17, 2023, the Company modified its written trading plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act, dated as of May 7, 2022, to facilitate repurchases under the Program. The modification provided for the purchase of up to approximately $169 million of the Company’s common stock from November 20, 2023 through August 1, 2025. The Program may be suspended or discontinued at any time and is funded using the Company’s available cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Under the Program, shares may be repurchased through open market and/or privately negotiated transactions at prices deemed appropriate by management. The timing and amount of repurchase transactions under the Program depend on market conditions as well as corporate and regulatory considerations.

41

During the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024, the Company repurchased a total of approximately 3,221.0 thousand shares of common stock at a cost of approximately $151.0 million. The stock repurchases were recorded in the periods they were delivered and accounted for as treasury stock in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company records treasury stock purchases under the cost method using the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method. Upon re-issuance of treasury stock, amounts in excess of the acquisition cost are credited to additional paid-in capital. If the Company reissues treasury stock at an amount below its acquisition cost and additional paid-in capital associated with prior treasury stock transactions is insufficient to cover the difference between acquisition cost and the reissue price, this difference is recorded against retained earnings.
As of September 28, 2024, our remaining stock repurchase authorization under the Program was approximately $30.3 million.
Dividends
On August 26, 2024, May 16, 2024, March 14, 2024 and November 15, 2023, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend $0.20 per share of common stock, resulting in an aggregate dividend of $0.80 per share of common stock for the fiscal year ended September 28, 2024. The declaration of any future cash dividend is at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, business conditions and other factors, as well as a determination that such dividends are in the best interests of the Company’s stockholders.
Other Obligations and Contingent Payments
In accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, certain obligations and commitments as of September 28, 2024 are appropriately not included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and Statements of Operations in this Form 10-K. However, because these obligations and commitments are entered into in the normal course of business and because they may have a material impact on our liquidity, we have disclosed them in the table below.
Additionally, as of September 28, 2024, the Company had deferred tax liabilities of $34.6 million and unrecognized tax benefit recorded within the income tax payable for uncertain tax positions of $21.4 million, including related accrued interest of $3.7 million. These amounts are not included in the contractual obligation table below because we are unable to reasonably estimate the timing of these payments at this time.
The following table presents certain payments due by the Company under contractual obligations with minimum firm commitments as of September 28, 2024:
  Payments due in
(in thousands)TotalLess than 1 year1 - 3 years3 - 5 yearsMore than 5 years
Inventory purchase obligations (1)
$126,078 126,078 $— $— $— 
U.S. one-time transition tax payable (2)
(reflected on our Balance Sheets)
28,619 16,808 11,811 — — 
Total $154,697 $142,886 $11,811 $— $— 
(1)We order inventory components in the normal course of our business. A portion of these orders are non-cancellable and a portion may have varying penalties and charges in the event of cancellation.
(2)Associated with the U.S. one-time transition tax on certain earnings and profits of our foreign subsidiaries in relation to the TCJA.

42

Credit Facilities
On February 15, 2019, the Company entered into a Facility Letter and Overdraft Agreement (collectively, the “Facility Agreements”) with MUFG Bank, Ltd., Singapore Branch (the “Bank”). The Facility Agreements provide the Company and one of its subsidiaries with an overdraft facility of up to $150.0 million (the “Overdraft Facility”) for general corporate purposes. Amounts outstanding under the Overdraft Facility, including interest, are payable upon thirty days written demand by the Bank. Interest on the Overdraft Facility is calculated on a daily basis, and the applicable interest rate is calculated at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) plus a margin of 1.5% per annum. The Overdraft Facility is an unsecured facility per the terms of the Facility Agreements. The Facility Agreements contain customary non-financial covenants, including, without limitation, covenants that restrict the Company’s ability to sell or dispose of its assets, cease owning at least 51% of two of its subsidiaries (the “Subsidiaries”), or encumber its assets with material security interests (including any pledge of monies in the Subsidiaries’ cash deposit account with the Bank). The Facility Agreements also contain customary events of default, including, without limitation, non-payment of financial obligations when due, cross defaults to other material indebtedness of the Company and any breach of a representation or warranty under the Facility Agreements. As of September 28, 2024, there were no outstanding amounts under the Overdraft Facility.
As of September 28, 2024, other than the bank guarantee disclosed in Note 10, we did not have any other off-balance sheet arrangements, such as contingent interests or obligations associated with variable interest entities.

Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Interest Rate Risk
Our available-for-sale securities, if applicable, may consist of short-term investments in highly rated debt instruments of the U.S. Government and its agencies, financial institutions, and corporations. We continually monitor our exposure to changes in interest rates and credit ratings of issuers with respect to any available-for-sale securities and target an average life to maturity of less than 18 months. Accordingly, we believe that the effects to us of changes in interest rates and credit ratings of issuers are limited and would not have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.
Foreign Currency Risk
Our international operations are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates due to transactions denominated in currencies other than the location’s functional currency. Our international operations are also exposed to foreign currency fluctuations that impact the remeasurement of net monetary assets of those operations whose functional currency, the U.S. dollar, differs from their respective local currencies, most notably in Israel and Singapore. Our U.S. operations also have foreign currency exposure due to net monetary assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. In addition to net monetary remeasurement, we have exposures related to the translation of subsidiary financial statements from their functional currency, the local currency, into its reporting currency, the U.S. dollar, most notably in the Netherlands, China, Taiwan, Japan and Germany.
Based on our foreign currency exposure as of September 28, 2024, a 10.0% fluctuation could impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows by $4.0 to $5.0 million. Our attempts to hedge against these risks may not be successful and may result in a material adverse impact on our financial results and cash flow.
We enter into foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge a portion of our forecasted foreign currency-denominated expenses in the normal course of business and, accordingly, they are not speculative in nature. These instruments generally mature within twelve months. We have foreign exchange forward contracts with a notional amount of $46.2 million outstanding as of September 28, 2024.
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Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023
Consolidated Statements of Operations for fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity for fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

44

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc.
Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023, and the related consolidated statements of operations, of comprehensive income, of changes in shareholders’ equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended September 28, 2024, including the related notes and schedule of valuation and qualifying accounts for each of the three years in the period ended September 28, 2024 appearing under Item 15(a)(2) (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of September 28, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended September 28, 2024 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 28, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.
Basis for Opinions
The Company’s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable
45

assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements; and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Valuation of inventories - Reserves for excess and obsolete raw materials
As described in Notes 1 and 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s consolidated net inventory balance was $177.7 million. The Company generally provides reserves for obsolete inventory and for inventory considered to be in excess of demand. Demand is generally defined as forecasted future consumption for inventories, and is based upon internal projections, historical sales volumes, customer order activity and a review of consumable inventory levels at customers’ facilities.
The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to the valuation of inventories, specifically the reserves for excess and obsolete raw materials, is a critical audit matter are our assessment that this is an area of significant judgment by management when developing reserves for excess and obsolete raw materials, including developing the assumptions related to forecasted future consumption for raw materials. This has in turn led to significant auditor judgment, subjectivity, and effort in performing procedures and evaluating the reasonableness of management’s significant assumptions related to the forecasted future consumption for raw materials.
Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to management’s reserves for excess and obsolete raw materials, including controls over management’s assumptions related to forecasted future consumption for raw materials. These procedures also included, among others, testing management’s process for developing the reserves for excess or obsolete raw materials; evaluating the appropriateness of management’s approach; testing the completeness and accuracy of underlying data used in the approach; and evaluating the reasonableness of management’s assumptions related to forecasted future consumption for raw materials. Evaluating management’s assumptions related to forecasted future consumption for raw materials involved evaluating whether the assumptions used by management was reasonable considering (i) current and past sales results, (ii) the consistency of sales with external market and industry data, and (iii) comparing prior year estimates of sales to actual sales results in the current year.



/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Singapore
November 14, 2024

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2011.
46

 KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands, except per share amount)
As of
September 28, 2024September 30, 2023
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$227,147 $529,402 
Short-term investments350,000 230,000 
Accounts and notes receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $49 and $49, respectively
193,909 158,601 
Inventories, net177,736 217,304 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets46,161 53,751 
Total current assets994,953 1,189,058 
Property, plant and equipment, net64,823 110,051 
Operating right-of-use assets35,923 47,148 
Goodwill89,748 88,673 
Intangible assets, net25,239 29,357 
Deferred tax assets17,900 31,551 
Equity investments3,143 716 
Other assets8,433 3,223 
TOTAL ASSETS$1,240,162 $1,499,777 
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
  
Current liabilities:  
Accounts payable58,847 49,302 
Operating lease liabilities7,718 6,574 
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities90,802 103,005 
Income taxes payable26,427 22,670 
Total current liabilities183,794 181,551 
Deferred tax liabilities34,594 37,264 
Income taxes payable31,352 52,793 
Operating lease liabilities33,245 41,839 
Other liabilities13,168 11,769 
TOTAL LIABILITIES$296,153 $325,216 
Commitments and contingent liabilities (Note 16)
SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
  
Preferred stock, without par value:  
Authorized 5,000 shares; issued - none
$ $ 
Common stock, no par value:  
Authorized 200,000 shares; issued 85,364 and 85,364 respectively; outstanding 53,854 and 56,310 shares, respectively
596,703 577,727 
Treasury stock, at cost, 31,510 and 29,054 shares, respectively
(881,830)(737,214)
Retained earnings1,242,558 1,355,810 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss(13,422)(21,762)
TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
$944,009 $1,174,561 
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
$1,240,162 $1,499,777 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
47

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share data)
 Fiscal
 202420232022
Net revenue$706,232 $742,491 $1,503,620 
Cost of sales437,478 383,836 755,300 
Gross profit268,754 358,655 748,320 
Selling, general and administrative165,564 152,982 140,050 
Research and development151,214 144,701 136,852 
Impairment charges44,472 21,535 1,346 
Operating expenses361,250 319,218 278,248 
(Loss) / Income from operations
(92,496)39,437 470,072 
Interest income34,230 32,906 7,124 
Interest expense(89)(142)(208)
(Loss)/Income before income taxes
(58,355)72,201 476,988 
Provision for income taxes10,651 15,053 43,443 
Net (loss)/income
$(69,006)$57,148 $433,545 
Net (loss)/income per share:
  
Basic$(1.24)$1.01 $7.21 
Diluted$(1.24)$0.99 $7.09 
Weighted average shares outstanding:  
Basic55,613 56,682 60,164 
Diluted55,613 57,548 61,182 
 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.














 

48

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(in thousands)
Fiscal
202420232022
Net (loss) / income
$(69,006)$57,148 $433,545 
Other comprehensive income / (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustment6,917 9,676 (30,536)
Unrecognized actuarial (loss) / gain on pension plan(821)(49)2,276 
Net increase / (decrease) from derivatives designated as hedging instruments2,244 1,511 (1,618)
Total other comprehensive income / (loss)8,340 11,138 (29,878)
Comprehensive (loss) / income$(60,666)$68,286 $403,667 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

























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KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
(in thousands)
 Common StockTreasury StockRetained earnings Accumulated Other Comprehensive (loss) / incomeShareholders' Equity
Outstanding
Shares
Amount
Balances as of October 2, 202161,931 $550,117 $(400,412)$948,554 $(3,022)$1,095,237 
Issuance of stock for services rendered18 774 175 — — 949 
Repurchase of common stock(5,576)— (282,807)— — (282,807)
Issuance of shares for equity-based compensation755 (7,244)7,244 — —  
Equity-based compensation— 18,037 — — — 18,037 
Cash dividend declared ($0.17 per share)
— — — (40,433)— (40,433)
Components of comprehensive income:
Net income— — — 433,545 — 433,545 
Other comprehensive loss— — — — (29,878)(29,878)
Total comprehensive income / (loss)— — — 433,545 (29,878)403,667 
Balances as of October 1, 202257,128 $561,684 $(675,800)$1,341,666 $(32,900)$1,194,650 
Issuance of stock for services rendered21 798 202 — — 1,000 
Repurchase of common stock(1,515)— (68,115)— — (68,115)
Issuance of shares for equity-based compensation676 (6,499)6,499 — —  
Equity-based compensation— 21,744 — — — 21,744 
Cash dividend declared ($0.19 per share)
— — — (43,004)— (43,004)
Components of comprehensive income:
Net income— — — 57,148 — 57,148 
Other comprehensive income— — — — 11,138 11,138 
Total comprehensive income / (loss)— — — 57,148 11,138 68,286 
Balances as of September 30, 202356,310 $577,727 $(737,214)$1,355,810 $(21,762)$1,174,561 
Issuance of stock for services rendered25 434 242 — — 676 
Repurchase of common stock(3,221)— (150,791)— — (150,791)
Issuance of shares for equity-based compensation740 (7,090)7,090 — —  
Excise tax— — (1,157)— — (1,157)
Equity-based compensation— 25,632 — — — 25,632 
Cash dividend declared ($0.20 per share)
— — — (44,246)— (44,246)
Components of comprehensive income:
Net loss
— — — (69,006)— (69,006)
Other comprehensive income— — — — 8,340 8,340 
Total comprehensive income / (loss)— — — (69,006)8,340 (60,666)
Balances as of September 28, 202453,854 $596,703 $(881,830)$1,242,558 $(13,422)$944,009 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
50

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(in thousands)
 Fiscal
 202420232022
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:  
Net income$(69,006)$57,148 $433,545 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization24,735 28,857 21,293 
Impairment charges44,472 21,535 1,346 
Equity-based compensation
26,891 22,744 18,986 
Adjustment for doubtful accounts 49 (245)
Adjustment for inventory valuation69,811 5,214 (2,613)
Deferred taxes11,374 (4,478)(8,648)
Loss/(gain) on disposal of property, plant and equipment
72 (499)(253)
Unrealized fair value changes on equity investment(47)323  
Unrealized foreign currency translation1,944 85 (7,278)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of assets and liabilities assumed in businesses combinations:
Accounts and notes receivable(34,707)152,667 113,340 
Inventory(31,511)(35,755)(14,924)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets9,073 8,619 (37,907)
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities185 (52,333)(128,734)
Income taxes payable(17,669)(29,312)4,946 
Other, net(4,580)(1,460)(2,666)
Net cash provided by operating activities31,037 173,404 390,188 
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:  
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired (36,881) 
Purchases of property, plant and equipment(16,148)(44,406)(22,985)
Proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment27 591 181 
Investment in private equity fund(2,380)(642)(397)
Purchase of short term investments(690,000)(595,000)(469,000)
Maturity of short term investments570,000 585,000 626,000 
Net cash (used in) / provided by investing activities
(138,501)(91,338)133,799 
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:  
Payment on short term debt  (54,500)
Payment for finance leases(564)(629)(509)
Repurchase of common stock(150,791)(69,210)(281,319)
Tax withholding payments related to vested and released restricted stock units(583)  
Proceeds from short term debt  54,500 
Common stock cash dividends paid(44,162)(42,037)(39,363)
Net cash used in financing activities(196,100)(111,876)(321,191)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents