10.25.23
Memory spending in total was $692M in the quarter. Like last quarter, approximately 90% of this was for DRAM with the balance for NAND. Total memory spending has averaged $562M per quarter for the last four quarters with Q3 of FY23 being a low outlier at half the value of the other three quarters. The peak-to-trough decline in spending at KLA is not as different as the other WFE companies. My educated guess is the reason for this is inspection strategies can be altered in ways that don’t affect wafer output, unlike with wafer-making equipment. Their memory customers are telling them their market continues be at historic lows and utilization is lower than “what they’re hoping for, although stabilized.” KLA doesn’t have any indication of any near-term change to the memory market. The memory market continues to be soft, bouncing along the bottom.
-S. Hughes (cyclical long MU)