The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant based upon the closing price of the registrant’s stock, as of December 31, 2016,2018, was approximately $11.05$13.53 billion.

The registrant had 156,840,420159,255,950 shares of common stock outstanding as of July 14, 2017.19, 2019.

KLA-TencorKLA (then KLA-Tencor) was formed in April 1997 through the merger of KLA Instruments Corporation and Tencor Instruments, two long-time leaders in the semiconductor equipment industry that originally began operations in 1975 and 1976, respectively.

KLA-Tencor’s front-endKLA’s wafer defect inspection toolsand review systems cover a broad range of yield applications within thefor IC manufacturing environment, including:and substrate manufacturers, including research and development; incomingdevelopment, wafer qualification;qualification, reticle qualification;qualification, and tool, process and line monitoring. Patterned and unpatterned wafer inspectors find particles, pattern defects and electrical issues on the front surface, back surface and edge of the wafer, allowing engineers to detect and monitor critical yield excursions. Our defect review systems capture high resolution images of the defects detected by inspection tools, helping substrate manufacturers and chipmakers identify and resolve yield issues. Fabs rely on our high sensitivity reticle inspection systems to identify defects on reticles at an early stage and to prevent reticle defects from printing on production wafers. The defect data generated by our inspectors is compiled and reduced to relevant root-cause and yield-analysis information with our suite of data management tools. By implementing our front-end defect inspection and analysisreview systems, chipmakers and substrate manufacturers are able to take quick corrective action, resulting in faster yield improvement and better time to market.

In the field of unpatterned wafer and surface inspection, the Surfscan SP7 unpatterned wafer defect inspection system provides high sensitivity on bare wafers, smooth films and rough films, supporting development and production of advanced substrates, processes and devices at wafer shops, original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and IC fabs. In addition, we offer the Surfscan SP5 Series and Surfscan SP3 Series (wafer defect inspection systems for process tool qualification and monitoring using blanket films and bare wafers); and the SURFmonitor, (integrated on the Surfscan SP5 and Surfscan SP3 Series), which enables surface quality measurements and capture of low-contrast defects. For wafer manufacturers, these specialized inspection systems assess surface quality and detect, count and bin defects during the development and production monitoring of polished wafers, epi wafers and engineered substrates, and as a critical part of outgoing inspection. For chip manufacturers, the Surfscan systems qualify incoming bare wafers, and qualify and monitor processes during all manufacturing stages – from development through production.

KLA-Tencor’sKLA’s array of metrology solutions addresses IC and substrate manufacturing, as well as scientific research and other applications. Precise metrology and control of pattern dimensions, film thicknesses, layer-to-layer alignment, pattern placement, surface topography, electro-optical and electro-opticalelectromagnetic properties are important in many industries as critical dimensions narrow, film thicknesses shrink to countable numbers of atomic layers and devices become more complex.

The SpectraShape family of optical CD and shape metrology systems characterizescharacterize and monitorsmonitor the critical dimensions and 3D shapes of geometrically complex features incorporated by some IC manufacturers ininto their latest generation devices. The SpectraShape 10K metrology system measures the CDs and three-dimensional shapes of finFET, 3D NAND and other complex IC device structures following etch, chemical mechanical planarization (“CMP”) and other process steps.

The SpectraFilm and Aleris families of film metrology toolssystems provide precise measurement of film thickness, refractive index, stress and composition for a broad range of film layers. The WaferSight PWGSpectraFilm F1 film metrology system, measuresemploys optical technologies that determine single- and multi-layer film thicknesses and uniformity with high precision to monitor deposition processes in production, and deliver bandgap data that predict device electrical performance earlier than end of line test.

The PWG3 patterned wafer geometry aftermetrology system measures stress-induced wafer shape, wafer shape-induced pattern overlay errors, wafer thickness variations and wafer front side and backside topography for a wide range of IC processes. This data is used for inline monitoring of fab processes, helping identifyoverlay corrections and monitor variations that can affect patterning. Finally, 5D Analyzerscanner focus control, enabling improved patterning and faster yield ramp. Our WaferSight bare wafer geometry metrology systems are used by substrate manufacturers to qualify polished and epitaxial silicon wafers, and engineered and other advanced substrates.

Magnetic random-access memory (“MRAM”) manufacturing requires the control of deposition, annealing, magnetization and etch of very thin ferromagnetic layers. These memory cells are embedded into the logic chip when the chip is getting close to completion. At this late stage, the value of the chip is high so the MRAM cell must be carefully controlled to maintain high yield. KLA offers advanced, run-time data analysisseveral systems for a wide rangemanufacturing control of metrology system types. MRAM processes, including the CAPRES CIPTech and microHall series, and the MicroSense PKMRAM and KerrMapper systems.

Our 5D Analyzer advanced data analysis and patterning control system offers an extendible, open architecture that accepts data from a wide range of metrology and process tools to enable advanced analysis, characterization and real-time control of fab-wide process variations. Our Klarity automated defect and yield analysis systems help IC manufacturers reduce defect inspection, classification and review data to relevant root-cause and yield-analysis information. Our RDC reticle data analysis and management system provides data used for in-fab reticle qualification. Our FabVision data management systems. Specialized inspection tools assess surface quality and detect, count and bin defects during the wafer manufacturing process and as a critical part of outgoing inspection. Wafer geometry tools ensure that the wafer is extremely flat and uniform in thickness, with precisely controlled surface topography. Specifications for wafer defectivity, geometry and surface quality are tightening as the dimensions of transistors become so small that the geometry of the substrate can substantially affect transistor performance.

For wafer-level packaging (i.e., atinspection, the middle and back-end of the semiconductor manufacturing process). Our CIRCL-AP all-surface and 89xx-AP front side wafer inspection, metrology and review systems supportKronos system provides high sensitivity to critical defects for advanced wafer-level packaging production monitoring for processes such as 2.5D/3D IC integration using through silicon vias (“TSVs”), wafer-level chip scale packaging (“WLCSP”) and fan-out wafer-level packaging (“FOWLP”). We also offer our CIRCL-AP cluster tool, which features multiple modules to support all-surface wafer-level packaging inspection, metrology and review. Used for packaging applications associated with LEDs, MEMS, image sensors and flip-chip packaging, our WI-22xx SeriesWI-2280 products focus on front side wafer inspection and provide feedback on wafer surface quality, quality of the wafer dicing, or quality of wafer bumps, pads, pillars and interconnects. Our component inspector products, including the ICOS T830, inspect various semiconductor components that are handled in a tray, such as microprocessors or memory chips. Component inspection capability includes 3D coplanarity inspection, measurement of the evenness of the contacts, component heightZeta-5xx and two-dimensional (“2D”) surface inspection. In March 2017, we introduced the ICOS T3 and T7 Series tools, which provide high performance, fully automated optical inspection of packaged integrated circuit (IC) components, with either tray (T3) or tape (T7) output capability. Both incorporate the new SPECTRUM and SIGMA modules, which produce increased 2D and 3D measurement sensitivity for improved detection of issues that affect final package quality. In June 2017, KLA-Tencor acquired a privately-held company, whose products includeZeta-6xx optical surface profilers measuringmeasure both wafers and large panels for advanced packaging metrology applications. These applications include under-bump metallization (“UBM”) height and roughness, copper pillar height and roughness, and redistribution linelayer (“RDL”) height and width.

LEDs are becoming more commonly used in solid-statesolid state lighting, television and notebook backlighting, and automotive applications. As LED device makers target aggressive cost and performance targets, they place significant emphasis on improved process control and yield during the manufacturing process.

Advancements in data storage are being driven by a wave of innovative consumer electronics with small form factors and immense storage capacities, as well as an increasing need for high-volume storage options to back up modern methods ofsupport remote computing and networking, (suchsuch as cloud computing).computing. Our process control and yield management solutions are designed to enable customers to rapidly understand and resolve complex manufacturing problems, which can help improve time to market and product yields. In the front-endTo support manufacturing of substrates, media and back-end of thin-filmthin film head wafer manufacturing,wafers, we offer the same process control equipment that we serve to the semiconductor industry. In addition, we offer an extensive rangea portfolio of test equipment and surface profilers with particular strength in photolithography. In substrate and media manufacturing, we offer metrology and defect inspection solutions, with KLA-Tencor’s optical surface analyzers. Products that we offer for the data storage media/head manufacturing market manufacturing areas highlighted in the product table at the conclusion of this “Products” section.

Our KLA Pro

The semiconductor equipment industry and other industries that we serve, including the semiconductor, flat panel display and printed circuit board industries, are constantly developing and changing over time. Many of the risks associated with operating in these industries are comparable to the risks faced by all technology companies, such as the uncertainty of future growth rates in the industries that we serve, pricing trends in the end-markets for consumer electronics and other products (which place a growing emphasis on our customers’ cost of ownership), changes in our customers’ capital spending patterns and, in general, an environment of constant change and development, including decreasing product and component dimensions; use of new materials; and increasingly complex device structures, applications and process steps. If we fail to appropriately adjust our cost structure and operations to adapt to any of these trends, or, with respect to technological advances, if we do not timely develop new technologies and products that successfully anticipate and address these changes, we could experience a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

The timing, length and severity of the up-and-down cycles in the semiconductor equipment industryindustries in which we serve are difficult to predict. The historically cyclical nature of the primarysemiconductor industry in which we primarily operate is largely a function of our customers’ capital spending patterns and need for expanded manufacturing capacity, which in turn are affected by factors such as capacity utilization, consumer demand for products, inventory levels and our customers’ access to capital. Cyclicality affects our ability to accurately predict future revenue and, in some cases, future expense levels. During down cycles in our industry, the financial results of our customers may be negatively impacted, which could result not only in a decrease in, or cancellation or delay of, orders (which are generally subject to cancellation or delay by the customer with limited or no penalty) but also a weakening of their financial condition that could impair their ability to pay for our products or our ability to recognize revenue from certain customers. Our ability to recognize revenue from a particular customer may also be negatively impacted by the customer’s funding status, which could be weakened not only by adverse business conditions or inaccessibility to capital markets for any number of macroeconomic or company-specific reasons, but also by funding limitations imposed by the customer’s unique corporateorganizational structure. Any of these factors could negatively impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

When cyclical fluctuations result in lower than expected revenue levels, operating results may be adversely affected and cost reduction measures may be necessary in order for us to remain competitive and financially sound. During periods of declining revenues, we must be in a position to adjust our cost and expense structure to prevailing market conditions and to continue to motivate and retain our key employees. If we fail to respond, or if our attempts to respond fail to accomplish our intended results, then our business could be seriously harmed. Furthermore, any workforce reductions and cost reduction actions that we adopt in response to down cycles may result in additional restructuring charges, disruptions in our operations and loss of key personnel. In addition, during periods of rapid growth, we must be able to increase manufacturing capacity and personnel to meet customer demand. We can provide no assurance that these objectives can be met in a timely manner in response to industry cycles. Each of these factors could adversely impact our operating results and financial condition.

Success in the industries in which we serve, including the semiconductor, equipment industryflat panel display and printed circuit board industries depends, in part, on continual improvement of existing technologies and rapid innovation of new solutions. The primary driver of technology advancement in the semiconductor industry has been to shrink the lithography that prints the circuit design on semiconductor chips. That driver appears to be slowing, which may cause semiconductor manufacturers to delay investments in equipment, investigate more complex device architectures, use new materials and develop innovative fabrication processes. These and other evolving customer plans and needs require us to respond with continued development programs and cut back or discontinue older programs, which may no longer have industry-wide support. Technical innovations are inherently complex and require long development cycles and appropriate staffing of highly qualified employees. Our competitive advantage and future business success depend on our ability to accurately predict evolving industry standards, develop and introduce new products and solutions that successfully address changing customer needs, win market acceptance of these new products and solutions, and manufacture these new products in a timely and cost-effective manner. Our failure to accurately predict evolving industry standards and develop as well as offer competitive technology solutions in a timely manner with cost-effective products could result in loss of market share, unanticipated costs, and inventory obsolescence, which would adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

We must continue to make significant investments in research and development in order to enhance the performance, features and functionality of our products, to keep pace with competitive products and to satisfy customer demands. Substantial research and development costs typically are incurred before we confirm the technical feasibility and commercial viability of a new product, and not all development activities result in commercially viable products. There can be no assurance that revenues from future products or product enhancements will be sufficient to recover the development costs associated with such products or enhancements. In addition, we cannot be sure that these products or enhancements will receive market acceptance or that we will be able to sell these products at prices that are favorable to us. Our business will be seriously harmed if we are unable to sell our products at favorable prices or if the market in which we operate does not accept our products.

In addition, the complexity of our products exposes us to other risks. We regularly recognize revenue from a sale upon shipment of the applicable product to the customer (even before receiving the customer’s formal acceptance of that product) in certain situations, including sales of products for which installation is considered perfunctory, transactions in which the product is sold to an independent distributor and we have no installation obligations, and sales of products where we have previously delivered the same product to the same customer location and that prior delivery has been accepted. However, our products are very technologically complex and rely on the interconnection of numerous subcomponents (all of which must perform to their respective specifications), so it is conceivable that a product for which we recognize revenue upon shipment may ultimately fail to meet the overall product’s required specifications. In such a situation, the customer may be entitled to certain remedies, which could materially and adversely affect our operating results for various periods and, as a result, our stock price.

Our success is dependent in part on our technology and other proprietary rights. We own various United States and international patents and have additional pending patent applications relating to some of our products and technologies. The process of seeking patent protection is lengthy and expensive, and we cannot be certain that pending or future applications will actually result in issued patents or that issued patents will be of sufficient scope or strength to provide meaningful protection or commercial advantage to us. Other companies and individuals, including our larger competitors, may develop technologies and obtain patents relating to our business that are similar or superior to our technology or may design around the patents we own, which may adversely affectingaffect our business. In addition, we at times engage in collaborative technology development efforts with our customers and suppliers, and these collaborations may constitute a key component of certain of our ongoing technology and product research and development projects. The termination of any such collaboration, or delays caused by disputes or other unanticipated challenges that may arise in connection with any such collaboration, could significantly impair our research and development efforts, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and operations.

We also maintain trademarks on certain of our products and services and claim copyright protection for certain proprietary software and documentation. However, we can give no assurance that our trademarks and copyrights will be upheld or successfully deter infringement by third parties.

While patent, copyright and trademark protection for our intellectual property is important, we believe our future success in highly dynamic markets is most dependent upon the technical competence and creative skills of our personnel. We attempt to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information through confidentiality and other agreements with our customers, suppliers, employees and consultants and through other security measures. We also maintain exclusive and non-exclusive licenses with third parties for strategic technology used in certain products. However, these employees, consultants and third parties may breach these agreements, and we may not have adequate remedies for wrongdoing. In addition, the laws of certain territories in which we develop, manufacture or sell our products may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. In any event, the extent to which we can protect our trade secrets through the use of confidentiality agreements is limited, and our success will depend to a significant extent on our ability to innovate ahead of our competitors.

We use a wide range of materials in the production of our products, including custom electronic and mechanical components, and we use numerous suppliers to supply these materials. We generally do not have guaranteed supply arrangements with our suppliers. Because of the variability and uniqueness of customers’ orders, we do not maintain an extensive inventory of materials for manufacturing. Through our business interruption planning, we seek to minimize the risk of production and service interruptions and/or shortages of key parts by, among other things, monitoring the financial stability of key suppliers, identifying (but not necessarily qualifying) possible alternative suppliers and maintaining appropriate inventories of key parts. Although we make reasonable efforts to ensure that parts are available from multiple suppliers, certain key parts are available only from a single supplier or a limited group of suppliers. Also, key parts we obtain from some of our suppliers incorporate the suppliers’ proprietary intellectual property; in those cases we are increasingly reliant on third parties for high-performance, high-technology components, which reduces the amount of control we have over the availability and protection of the technology and intellectual property that is used in our products. In addition, if certain of our key suppliers experience liquidity issues and are forced to discontinue operations, which is a heightened risk especially during economic downturns, it could affect their ability to deliver parts and could result in delays for our products. Similarly, especially with respect to suppliers of high-technology components, our suppliers themselves have increasingly complex supply chains, and delays or disruptions at any stage of their supply chains may prevent us from obtaining parts in a timely manner and result in delays for our products. Our operating results and business may be adversely impacted if we are unable to obtain parts to meet our production requirements and product specifications, or if we are only able to do so on unfavorable terms. Furthermore, a supplier may discontinue production of a particular part for any number of reasons, including the supplier’s financial condition or business operational decisions, which would require us to purchase, in a single transaction, a large number of such discontinued parts in order to ensure that a continuous supply of such parts remains available to our customers. Such “end-of-life” parts purchases could result in significant expenditures by us in a particular period, and ultimately any unused parts may result in a significant inventory write-off, either of which could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations for the applicable periods.

We attempt to operate our business in accordance with a business plan that is established annually, revised frequently (generally quarterly), and reviewed by management even more frequently (at least monthly). Our business plan is developed based on a number of factors, many of which require estimates and assumptions, such as our expectations of the economic environment, future business levels, our customers’ willingness and ability to place orders, lead-times, and future revenue and cash flow. Our budgeted operating expenses, for example, are based in part on our future revenue expectations. However, our ability to achieve our anticipated revenue levels is a function of numerous factors, including the volatile and historically cyclical nature of our primary industry, customer order cancellations, macroeconomic changes, operational matters regarding particular agreements, our ability to manage customer deliveries, the availability of resources for the installation of our products, delays or accelerations by customers in taking deliveries and the acceptance of our products (for products where customer acceptance is required before we can recognize revenue from such sales), our ability to operate our business and sales processes effectively, and a number of the other risk factors set forth in this Item 1A.

Because our expenses are in most cases relatively fixed in the short term, any revenue shortfall below expectations could have an immediate and significant adverse effect on our operating results. Similarly, if we fail to manage our expenses effectively or otherwise fail to maintain rigorous cost controls, we could experience greater than anticipated expenses during an operating period, which would also negatively affect our results of operations. If we fail to operate our business consistent with our business plan, our operating results in any period may be significantly and adversely impacted. Such an outcome could cause customers, suppliers or investors to view us as less stable, or could cause us to fail to meet financial analysts’ revenue or earnings estimates, any of which could have an adverse impact on our stock price.

In addition, our management is constantly striving to balance the requirements and demands of our customers with the availability of resources, the need to manage our operating model and other factors. In furtherance of those efforts, we often must exercise discretion and judgment as to the timing and prioritization of manufacturing, deliveries, installations and payment scheduling. Any such decisions may impact our ability to recognize revenue, including the fiscal period during which such revenue may be recognized, with respect to such products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or stock price.

As of June 30, 2017,2019, we had $2.95 billion aggregate principal amount of outstanding indebtedness, consisting of $2.50$3.45 billion aggregate principal amount of senior, unsecured long-term notes and $446.3 million of term loans under a Credit Agreement (the “Credit Agreement”).notes. Additionally, we have commitments for an unfunded revolving credit facilityRevolving Credit Facility of $500.0 million$1.00 billion under the Credit Agreement. We may incur additional indebtedness in the future by accessing the unfunded revolving credit facility under theportion of our Revolving Credit AgreementFacility and/or entering into new financing arrangements. For example, at the same time we announced our intention to acquire Orbotech, we also announced a new stock repurchase program authorizing the repurchase up to $2.00 billion of our common stock, a large portion of which would be financed with new indebtedness. Our ability to pay interest and repay the principal of our current indebtedness is dependent upon our ability to manage our business operations, our credit rating, the ongoing interest rate environment and the other risk factors discussed in this section. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage any of these risks successfully.

The term loansBorrowings under theour Revolving Credit AgreementFacility bear interest at a floating rate, which is based on the London Interbank Offered Rate plus a fixed spread, and therefore, anyan increase in interest rates would require us to pay additional interest on any borrowings, which may have an adverse effect on the value and liquidity of our debt and the market price of our common stock could decline. The interest rate under theour Revolving Credit Facility is also subject to an adjustment in conjunction with our credit rating downgrades or upgrades. Additionally, under theour Revolving Credit Agreement,Facility, we are required to comply with affirmative and negative covenants, which include the maintenance of certain financial ratios, the details of which can be found in Note 7, “Debt”8, “Debt,” to the consolidated financial statements.our Consolidated Financial Statements.

If we fail to comply with these covenants, we will be in default and our borrowings will become immediately due and payable. There can be no assurance that we will have sufficient financial resources or we will be able to arrange financing to repay our borrowings at such time. In addition, certain of our domestic subsidiaries under the Credit Agreement are required to guarantee our borrowings under theour Revolving Credit Agreement.Facility. In the event that we default on our borrowings, these domestic subsidiaries shall be liable for our borrowings, which could disrupt our operations and result in a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or stock price.

Our ability to satisfy our future expenses as well as our new debt obligations will depend on our future performance, which will be affected by financial, business, economic, regulatory and other factors. Furthermore, our future operations may not generate sufficient cash flows to enable us to meet our future expenses and service our new debt obligations, which may impact our ability to manage our capital structure to preserve and maintain our investment grade rating. If our future operations do not generate sufficient cash flows, we may need to access the unfunded revolving credit facility of $500.0 millionmoney available for borrowing under theour Revolving Credit AgreementFacility or enter into new financing arrangements to obtain necessary funds. If we determine it is necessary to seek additional funding for any reason, we may not be able to obtain such funding or, if funding is available, we may not be able to obtain it on acceptable terms. Any additional borrowingborrowings under theour Revolving Credit AgreementFacility will place further pressure on us to comply with the financial covenants. If we fail to make a payment associated with our debt obligations, we could be in default on such debt, and such a default could cause us to be in default on our other obligations.

Our Board of Directors first instituted a quarterly dividend during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2005. Since that time, we have announced a number of increases in the amount of our quarterly dividend level as well as payment of a special cash dividend that was declared and substantially paid in the second quarter of our fiscal year ended June 30, 2015. We intend to continue to pay quarterly dividends subject to capital availability and periodic determinations by our Board of Directors that cash dividends are in the best interest of our stockholders and are in compliance with all laws and agreements applicable to the declaration and payment of cash dividends by us. Future dividends may be affected by, among other factors: our views on potential future capital requirements for investments in acquisitions and the funding of our research and development; legal risks; stock repurchase programs; changes in federal and state income tax laws or corporate laws; changes to our business model; and our increased interest and principal payments required by our outstanding indebtedness and any additional indebtedness that we may incur in the future. Our dividend payments may change from time to time, and we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to declare dividends at all or in any particular amounts. A reduction in our dividend payments could have a negative effect on our stock price.

Although our standard commercial documentation sets forth the terms and conditions that we intend to apply to commercial transactions with our business partners, counterparties to such transactions may not explicitly agree to our terms and conditions. In situations where we engage in business with a third party without an explicit master agreement regarding the applicable terms and conditions, or where the commercial documentation applicable to the transaction is subject to varying interpretations, we may have disputes with those third parties regarding the applicable terms and conditions of our business relationship with them. Such disputes could lead to a deterioration of our commercial relationship with those parties, costly and time-consuming litigation, or additional concessions or obligations being offered by us to resolve such disputes, or could impact our revenue or cost recognition. Any of these outcomes could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, in our commercial agreements, from time to time in the normal course of business we indemnify third parties with whom we enter into contractual relationships, including customers, suppliers and lessors, with respect to certain matters. We have agreed, under certain conditions, to hold these third parties harmless against specified losses, such as those arising from a breach of representations or covenants, other third party claims that our products when used for their intended purposes infringe the intellectual property rights of such other third parties, or other claims made against certain parties. We may be compelled to enter into or accrue for probable settlements of alleged indemnification obligations, or we may be subject to potential liability arising from our customers’ involvements in legal disputes. In addition, notwithstanding the provisions related to limitations on our liability that we seek to include in our business agreements, the counterparties to such agreements may dispute our interpretation or application of such provisions, and a court of law may not interpret or apply such provisions in our favor, any of which could result in an obligation for us to pay material damages to third parties and engage in costly legal proceedings. It is difficult to determine the maximum potential amount of liability under any indemnification obligations, whether or not asserted, due to our limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances that are likely to be involved in any particular claim. Our business, financial condition and results of operations in a reported fiscal period could be materially and adversely affected if we expend significant amounts in defending or settling any purported claims, regardless of their merit or outcomes.

We are also exposed to potential costs associated with unexpected product performance issues. Our products and production processes are extremely complex and thus could contain unexpected product defects, especially when products are first introduced. Unexpected product performance issues could result in significant costs being incurred by us, including increased service or warranty costs, providing product replacements for (or modifications to) defective products, litigation related to defective products, reimbursement for damages caused by our products, product recalls, or product write-offs or disposal costs. These costs could be substantial and could have an adverse impact upon our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, our reputation with our customers could be damaged as a result of such product defects, which could reduce demand for our products and negatively impact our business.

Furthermore, we occasionally enter into volume purchase agreements with our larger customers, and these agreements may provide for certain volume purchase incentives, such as credits toward future purchases. We believe that these arrangements are beneficial to our long-term business, as they are designed to encourage our customers to purchase higher volumes of our products. However, these arrangements could require us to recognize a reduced level of revenue for the products that are initially purchased, to account for the potential future credits or other volume purchase incentives. Our volume purchase agreements require significant estimation for the amounts to be accrued depending upon the estimate of volume of future purchases. As such, we are required to update our estimates of the accruals on a periodic basis. Until the earnings process is complete, our estimates could differ in comparison to actuals.actual results. As a result, these volume purchase arrangements, while expected to be beneficial to our business over time, could materially and adversely affect our results of operations in near-term periods, including the revenue we can recognize on product sales and therefore our gross margins.

In addition, we may, in limited circumstances, enter into agreements that contain customer-specific commitments on pricing, tool reliability, spare parts stocking levels, response time and other commitments. Furthermore, we may give these customers limited audit or inspection rights to enable them to confirm that we are complying with these commitments. If a customer elects to exercise its audit or inspection rights, we may be required to expend significant resources to support the audit or inspection, as well as to defend or settle any dispute with a customer that could potentially arise out of such audit or inspection. To date, we have made no significant accruals in our consolidated financial statementsConsolidated Financial Statements for this contingency. While we have not in the past incurred significant expenses for resolving disputes regarding these types of commitments, we cannot make any assurance that we will not incur any such liabilities in the future. Our business, financial condition and results of operations in a reported fiscal period could be materially and adversely affected if we expend significant amounts in supporting an audit or inspection, or defending or settling any purported claims, regardless of their merit or outcomes.

We are exposed to additional risks related to our receipt of external funding for certain strategic development programs from various governments and government agencies, both domestically and internationally. Governments and government agencies typically have the right to terminate funding programs at any time in their sole discretion, or a project may be terminated by mutual agreement if the parties determine that the project’s goals or milestones are not being achieved, so there is no assurance that these sources of external funding will continue to be available to us in the future. In addition, under the terms of these government grants, the applicable granting agency typically has the right to audit the costs that we incur, directly and indirectly, in connection with such programs. Any such audit could result in modifications to, or even termination of, the applicable government funding program. For example, if an audit were to identify any costs as being improperly allocated to the applicable program, those costs would not be reimbursed, and any such costs that had already been reimbursed would have to be refunded. We do not know the outcome of any future audits. Any adverse finding resulting from any such audit could lead to penalties (financial or otherwise), termination of funding programs, suspension of payments, fines and suspension or prohibition from receiving future government funding from the applicable government or government agency, any of which could adversely impact our operating results, financial condition and ability to operate our business.

Historically, we have recorded material restructuring charges related to our prior global workforce reductions, large excess inventory write-offs, and material impairment charges related to our goodwill and purchased intangible assets. During the fourth quarter of fiscal year ended 2015, we implemented a plan to reduce our global employee workforce to streamline our organization and business processes in response to changing customer requirements in our industry. We substantially completed the global employee workforce reduction during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016. Such workforceWorkforce changes can also temporarily reduce workforce productivity, which could be disruptive to our business and adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, we may not achieve or sustain the expected cost savings or other benefits of our restructuring plans, or do so within the expected time frame. If we again restructure our organization and business processes, implement additional cost reduction actions or discontinue certain business operations, we may take additional, potentially material, restructuring charges related to, among other things, employee terminations or exit costs. We may also be required to write-off additional inventory if our product build plans or usage of service inventory decline. Also, as our lead times from suppliers increase (due to the increasing complexity of the parts and components they provide) and the lead times demanded by our customers decrease (due to the time pressures they face when introducing new products or technology or bringing new facilities into production), we may be compelled to increase our commitments, and therefore our risk exposure, to inventory purchases to meet our customers’ demands in a timely manner, and that inventory may need to be written-off if demand for the underlying product declines for any reason. Such additional write-offs could constituteresult in material charges.

In the past, we have recorded a material chargecharges related to the impairment of our goodwill and purchased intangible assets. Goodwill represents the excess of costs over the net fair value of net assets acquired in a business combination. Goodwill is not amortized, but is instead tested for impairment at least annually in accordance with authoritative guidance for goodwill. Purchased intangible assets with estimable useful lives are amortized over their respective estimated useful lives based on economic benefit if known or using the straight-line method, and are reviewed for impairment in accordance with authoritative guidance for long-lived assets. The valuation of goodwill and intangible assets requires assumptions and estimates of many critical factors, including revenue and market growth, operating cash flows, market multiples, and discount rates. A substantial decline in our stock price, or any other adverse change in market conditions, particularly if such change has the effect of changing one of the critical assumptions or estimates we previously used to calculate the value of our goodwill or intangible assets (and, as applicable, the amount of any previous impairment charge), could result in a change to the estimation of fair value that could result in an additional impairment charge.

Any such additional material charges, whether related to restructuring or goodwill or purchased intangible asset impairment, may have a material negative impact on our operating results and related financial statements.

We enter into factoring arrangements with financial institutions to sell certain of our trade receivables and promissory notes from customers without recourse. In addition, we maintain bank accounts with several domestic and foreign financial institutions, any of which may prove not to be financially viable. If we were to stop entering into these factoring arrangements, our operating results, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely impacted by delays or failures in collecting trade receivables. However, by entering into these arrangements, and by engaging these financial institutions for banking services, we are exposed to additional risks. If any of these financial institutions experiences financial difficulties or is otherwise unable to honor the terms of our factoring or deposit arrangements, we may experience material financial losses due to the failure of such arrangements or a lack of access to our funds, any of which could have an adverse impact upon our operating results, financial condition and cash flows.

In connection with the settlement of certain government actions and other legal proceedings related to our historical stock option practices, we have explicitly agreed as a condition to such settlements that we will comply with certain laws, such as the books and records provisions of the federal securities laws. If we were to violate any such law, we might not only be subject to the significant penalties applicable to such violation, but our past settlements may also be impacted by such violation, which could give rise to additional government actions or other legal proceedings. Any such additional actions or proceedings may require us to expend significant management time and incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses, and may divert attention and resources from the operation of our business. These expenditures and diversions, as well as an adverse resolution of any such action or proceeding, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As is typical in the semiconductor equipment industry,industries in which we serve, from time to time we have received communications from other parties asserting the existence of patent rights, copyrights, trademark rights or other intellectual property rights which they believe cover certain of our products, processes, technologies or information. In addition, we occasionally receive notification from customers who believe that we owe them indemnification or other obligations related to intellectual property claims made against such customers by third parties. With respect to intellectual property infringement disputes, our customary practice is to evaluate such infringement assertions and to consider whether to seek licenses where appropriate. However, we cannot ensurethere can be no assurance that licenses can be obtained or, if obtained, will be on acceptable terms or that costly litigation or other administrative proceedings will not occur. The inability to obtain necessary licenses or other rights on reasonable terms could seriously harm our results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, we may potentially be subject to claims by customers, suppliers or other business partners, or by governmental law enforcement agencies, related to our receipt, distribution and/or use of third-party intellectual property or confidential information. Legal proceedings and claims, regardless of their merit, and associated internal investigations with respect to intellectual property or confidential information disputes are often expensive to prosecute, defend or conduct; may divert management’s attention and other company resources; and/or may result in restrictions on our ability to sell our products, settlements on significantly adverse terms or adverse judgments for damages, injunctive relief, penalties and fines, any of which could have a significant negative effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. There can be no assurance regarding the outcome of future legal proceedings, claims or investigations. The instigation of legal proceedings or claims, our inability to favorably resolve or settle such proceedings or claims, or the determination of any adverse findings against us or any of our employees in connection with such proceedings or claims could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our business reputation.

We are subject to various risks related to compliance with new, existing, different, inconsistent or even conflicting laws, rules and regulations enacted by legislative bodies and/or regulatory agencies in the countries in which we operate and with which we must comply, including environmental, safety, antitrust, anti-corruption/anti-bribery, unclaimed property and export control regulations. Our failure or inability to comply with existing or future laws, rules or regulations, or changes to existing laws, rules or regulations (including changes that result in inconsistent or conflicting laws, rules or regulations), in the countries in which we operate could result in violations of contractual or regulatory obligations that may adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and ability to conduct our business. From time to time, we may receive inquiries or audit notices from governmental or regulatory bodies, or we may participate in voluntary disclosure programs, related to legal, regulatory or tax compliance matters, and these inquiries, notices or programs may result in significant financial cost (including investigation expenses, defense costs, assessments and penalties), reputational harm and other consequences that could materially and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

Our properties and many aspects of our business operations are subject to various domestic and international environmental laws and regulations, including those that control and restrict the use, transportation, emission, discharge, storage and disposal of certain chemicals, gases and other substances. Any failure to comply with applicable environmental laws, regulations or requirements may subject us to a range of consequences, including fines, suspension of certain of our business activities, limitations on our ability to sell our products, obligations to remediate environmental contamination, and criminal and civil liabilities or other sanctions. In addition, changes in environmental regulations (including regulations relating to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions) could require us to invest in potentially costly pollution control equipment, alter our manufacturing processes or use substitute (potentially more expensive and/or rarer) materials. Further, we use hazardous and other regulated materials that subject us to risks of strict liability for damages caused by any release, regardless of fault. We also face increasing complexity in our manufacturing, product design and procurement operations as we adjust to new and prospective requirements relating to the materials composition of our products, including restrictions on lead and other substances and requirements to track the sources of certain metals and other materials. The cost of complying, or of failing to comply, with these and other regulatory restrictions or contractual obligations could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and ability to conduct our business.

In addition, we may from time to time be involved in legal proceedings or claims regarding employment, immigration, contracts, product performance, product liability, antitrust, environmental regulations, securities, unfair competition and other matters (in addition to proceedings and claims related to intellectual property matters, which are separately discussed elsewhere in this Item 1A).matters. These legal proceedings and claims, regardless of their merit, may be time-consuming and expensive to prosecute or defend, divert management’s attention and resources, and/or inhibit our ability to sell our products. There can be no assurance regarding the outcome of current or future legal proceedings or claims, which could adversely affect our operating results, financial condition and ability to operate our business.

We outsource a number of services, including our transportation, information systems management and logistics management of spare parts and certain accounting and procurement functions, to domestic and overseas third-party service providers. While outsourcing arrangements may lower our cost of operations, they also reduce our direct control over the services rendered. It is uncertain what effect such diminished control will have on the quality or quantity of products delivered or services rendered, on our ability to quickly respond to changing market conditions, or on our ability to ensure compliance with all applicable domestic and foreign laws and regulations. In addition, many of these outsourced service providers, including certain hosted software applications that we use for confidential data storage, employ cloud computing technology for such storage. These providers’ cloud computing systems may be susceptible to “cyber incidents,” such as intentional cyber attacks aimed at theft of sensitive data or inadvertent cyber-security compromises, which are outside of our control. If we do not effectively develop and manage our outsourcing strategies, if required export and other governmental approvals are not timely obtained, if our third-party service providers do not perform as anticipated or do not adequately protect our data from cyber-related security breaches, or if there are delays or difficulties in enhancing business processes, we may experience operational difficulties (such as limitations on our ability to ship products), increased costs, manufacturing or service interruptions or delays, loss of intellectual property rights or other sensitive data, quality and compliance issues, and challenges in managing our product inventory or recording and reporting financial and management information, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our global operations are dependent upon certain information systems, including telecommunications, the internet, our corporate intranet, network communications, email and various computer hardware and software applications. System failures or malfunctioning, such as difficulties with our customer relationship management (“CRM”) system, could disrupt our operations and our ability to timely and accurately process and report key components of our financial results. Our enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system is integral to our ability to accurately and efficiently maintain our books and records, record transactions, provide critical information to our management, and prepare our financial statements. Any disruptions or difficulties that may occur in connection with our ERP system or other systems (whether in connection with the regular operation, periodic enhancements, modifications or upgrades of such systems or the integration of our acquired businesses into such systems) could adversely affect our ability to complete important business processes, such as the evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

In addition to our efforts to develop new technologies from internal sources, part of our growth strategy is to pursue acquisitions and acquire new technologies from external sources. As part of this effort, in February 2019, we announced that we had consummated our acquisition of Orbotech. We may makealso enter into definitive agreements for and consummate acquisitions of, or significant investments in, businesses with complementary products, services and/or technologies. There can be no assurance that we will find suitable acquisition candidates or that acquisitions we complete will be successful. In addition, we may use equity to finance future acquisitions, which would increase our number of shares outstanding and be dilutive to current stockholders.

If we are unable to successfully integrate and manage acquired businesses, if the costs associated with integrating the acquired business exceeds our expectations, or if acquired businesses perform poorly, then our business and financial results may suffer. It is possible that the businesses we have acquired, as well as businesses that we may acquire in the future, may perform worse than expected or prove to be more difficult to integrate and manage than anticipated. In addition, we may lose key employees of the acquired companies. As a result, risks associated with acquisition transactions may give riselead to a material adverse effect on our business and financial results for a number of reasons, including:

At times, we may also enter into strategic alliances with customers, suppliers or other business partners with respect to development of technology and intellectual property. These alliances typically require significant investments of capital and exchange of proprietary, highly sensitive information. The success of these alliances depends on various factors over which we may have limited or no control and requires ongoing and effective cooperation with our strategic partners. Mergers and acquisitions and strategic alliances are inherently subject to significant risks, and the inability to effectively manage these risks could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We have significant manufacturing operations in the United States, Singapore, Israel, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, and China. In addition, our business is international in nature, with our sales, service and administrative personnel and our customers located in numerous countries throughout the world. Operations at our manufacturing facilities and our assembly subcontractors, as well as our other operations and those of our customers, are subject to disruption for a variety of reasons, including work stoppages, acts of war, terrorism, health epidemics, fire, earthquake, volcanic eruptions, energy shortages, flooding or other natural disasters. Such disruption could cause delays in, among other things, shipments of products to our customers, our ability to perform services requested by our customers, or the installation and acceptance of our products at customer sites. We cannot ensureprovide any assurance that alternate means of conducting our operations (whether through alternate production capacity or service providers or otherwise) would be available if a major disruption were to occur or that, if such alternate means were available, they could be obtained on favorable terms.

In addition, as part of our cost-cutting actions, we have consolidated several operating facilities. Our California operations are now primarily centralized in our Milpitas facility. The consolidation of our California operations into a single campus could further concentrate the risks related to any of the disruptive events described above, such as acts of war or terrorism, earthquakes, fires or other natural disasters, if any such event were to impact our Milpitas facility.

The threat of terrorism targeted at, or acts of war in, the regions of the world in which we do business increases the uncertainty in our markets. Any act of terrorism or war that affects the economy or the semiconductor industryindustries we serve could adversely affect our business. Increased international political instability in various parts of the world, disruption in air transportation and further enhanced security measures as a result of terrorist attacks may hinder our ability to do business and may increase our costs of operations. We maintain significant manufacturing and research and development operations in Israel. Since the establishment of the State of Israel an areain 1948, a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and a state of hostility varying in degree and intensity, has led to security and economic challenges for Israel. In addition, some our employees in Israel are obligated to perform annual reserve duty in the Israel Defense Forces, and may be called to active military duty in emergency circumstances. We cannot assess the impact that has historically experienced a high degreeemergency conditions in Israel in the future may have on our business, operations, financial condition or results of political instability, and we are therefore exposed to risks associated with future instabilityoperations, but it could be material. Instability in that region. Such instabilityany region could directly impact our ability to operate our business (or our customers’ ability to operate their businesses) in the affected region,, cause us to incur increased costs in transportation, make such transportation unreliable, increase our insurance costs, and cause international currency markets to fluctuate. Such instabilityInstability in the region could also have the same effects on our suppliers and their ability to timely deliver their products. If international political instability continues or increases in any region in which we do business, our business and results of operations could be harmed. We are predominantly uninsured for losses and interruptions caused by terrorist acts and acts of war.

We purchase insurance to help mitigate the economic impact of certain insurable risks; however, certain risks are uninsurable, are insurable only at significant cost or cannot be mitigated with insurance. Accordingly, we may experience a loss that is not covered by insurance, either because we do not carry applicable insurance or because the loss exceeds the applicable policy amount or is less than the deductible amount of the applicable policy. For example, we do not currently hold earthquake insurance. An earthquake could significantly disrupt our manufacturing operations, a significant portion of which are conducted in California, an area highly susceptible to earthquakes. It could also significantly delay our research and engineering efforts on new products, much of which is also conducted in California. We take steps to minimize the damage that would be caused by an earthquake, but there is no certainty that our efforts will prove successful in the event of an earthquake. We self-insure earthquake risks because we believe this is a prudent financial decision based on our cash reserves and the high cost and limited coverage available in the earthquake insurance market. Certain other risks are also self-insured either based on a similar cost-benefit analysis, or based on the unavailability of insurance. If one or more of the uninsured events occurs, we could suffer major financial loss.

We have some exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily the Japanese Yen, the euro, the pound sterling and the euro.Israeli new shekel. We have international subsidiaries that operate and sell our products globally. In addition, an increasing proportion of our manufacturing activities are conducted outside of the United States, and many of the costs associated with such activities are denominated in foreign currencies. We routinely hedge our exposures to certain foreign currencies with certain financial institutions in an effort to minimize the impact of certain currency exchange rate fluctuations, but these hedges may be inadequate to protect us from currency exchange rate fluctuations. To the extent that these hedges are inadequate, or if there are significant currency exchange rate fluctuations in currencies for which we do not have hedges in place, our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business could be adversely affected. Furthermore, if a financial counterparty to our hedges experiences financial difficulties or is otherwise unable to honor the terms of the foreign currency hedge, we may experience material financial losses.

Our investment portfolio primarily consists of both corporate and government debt securities that are susceptible to changes in market interest rates and bond yields. As market interest rates and bond yields increase, those securities with a lower yield-at-cost show a mark-to-market unrealized loss. We believe we have the ability to realize the full value of all these investments upon maturity. However, an impairment of the fair market value of our investments, even if unrealized, must be reflected in our financial statements for the applicable period and may therefore have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for that period.

In addition, the market price for our common stock is volatile and has fluctuated significantly during recent years. The trading price of our common stock could continue to be highly volatile and fluctuate widely in response to various factors, including without limitation conditions in the semiconductor industry and other industries in which we operate, fluctuations in the global economy or capital markets, our operating results or other performance metrics, or adverse consequences experienced by us as a result of any of the risks described elsewhere in this Item 1A. Volatility in the market price of our common stock could cause an investor in our common stock to experience a loss on the value of their investment in us and could also adversely impact our ability to raise capital through the sale of our common stock or to use our common stock as consideration to acquire other companies.

We are subject to tax and regulatory compliance audits (such as related to customs or product safety requirements) in various jurisdictions, and such jurisdictions may assess additional income or other taxes, penalties, fines or other prohibitions against us. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable and that our products and practices comply with applicable regulations, the final determination of any such audit and any related litigation could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals related to income taxes and other contingencies. In addition to and in connection with the Israel Tax Authority (“ITA”) Assessment described in more detail in Note 13, “Income Taxes” to our Consolidated Financial Statements, there is an ongoing criminal investigation against our Orbotech subsidiary, certain of its employees and its tax consultant that began prior to the Acquisition Date. We can make no assurances that an indictment will not result from the criminal investigation. The results of an audit or litigation could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made.

We earn profits in, and are therefore potentially subject to taxes in, the U.S. and numerous foreign jurisdictions, including Singapore, Israel and the Cayman Islands, the countries in which we earn the majority of our non-U.S. profits. Due to economic, political or other conditions, tax rates in those jurisdictions may be subject to significant change. A number of factors may adversely impact our future effective tax rates, such as the jurisdictions in which our profits are determined to be earned and taxed; changes in the tax rates imposed by those jurisdictions; expiration of tax holidays in certain jurisdictions that are not renewed; the resolution of issues arising from tax audits with various tax authorities; changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities; adjustments to estimated taxes upon finalization of various tax returns; increases in expenses not deductible for tax purposes, including write-offs of acquired in-process research and development and impairment of goodwill in connection with acquisitions; changes in available tax credits; changes in stock-based compensation expense; changes in tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws (for example, proposals for fundamental United States international tax reform);laws; changes in generally accepted accounting principles; and the repatriation of earnings from outside the United StatesU.S. for which we have not previously provided for United StatesU.S. taxes. A change in our effective tax rate can materially and adversely impact our results from operations.

Federal securities laws, rules and regulations, as well as NASDAQ rules and regulations, require companies to maintain extensive corporate governance measures, impose comprehensive reporting and disclosure requirements, set strict independence and financial expertise standards for audit and other committee members and impose civil and criminal penalties for companies and their chief executive officers, chief financial officers and directors for securities law violations. These laws, rules and regulations have increased, and in the future are expected to continue to increase, the scope, complexity and cost of our corporate governance, reporting and disclosure practices, which could harm our results of operations and divert management’s attention from business operations.

New accounting standards and taxation rules and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements and taxation rules have occurred and will continue to occur in the future. Changes to (or revised interpretations or applications of) existing accounting standards or tax rules or the questioning of current or past practices may adversely affect our reported financial results or the way we conduct our business. For example, in May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued an accounting standard update regarding revenue from contracts with customers, and in February 2016, the FASB issued an accounting standard update which amends the existing accounting standards for leases. Adoption of new standards may require changes to our processes, accounting systems, and internal controls. Difficulties encountered during adoption could result in internal control deficiencies or delay the reporting of our financial results. In addition, the passing of the Act in December 2017 caused us to significantly increase our provision for income taxes, which had a material adverse effect on our net income for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. Further interpretations of the Act from the government and regulatory organizations may change our tax expense provided for our transitional tax liability and deferred tax adjustments as well as our provision liability or accounting treatment of the provisional liability which may potentially affect the measurement of these balances or potentially give rise to new deferred tax amounts.

Not applicable.

Changes in gross margin percentage, which are driven by the revenue volume of products and services, reflect our ability to leverage existing infrastructure to generate higher revenues. It also includes the effect of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, average customer pricing and customer revenue deferrals associated with volume purchase agreements. Changes in gross margin percentage from the mix of products and services sold, reflect the impact of changes inwithin the composition withinof product and service offerings.offerings, and amortization of inventory fair value adjustments from business combinations. Changes in gross margin percentage from manufacturing labor, overhead and efficiencies reflect our ability to manage costs and drive productivity as we scale our manufacturing activity to respond to customer requirements; this includes the impactrequirements, and amortization of capacity utilization, use of overtime and variability of cost structure.intangible assets. Changes in gross margin percentage from other service and manufacturing costs include the impact of customer support costs, including the efficiencies with which we deliver services to our customers, and the effectiveness with which we manage our production plans and inventory risk.