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Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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FY2015 Annual Report · Kulicke and Soffa Industries
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2015 ANNUAL REPORT

FOCUS ON GROWTH

Kulicke & Soffa continues to leverage its market leadership positions, operational flexibility, debt-free 
balance sheet and technological competencies to expand its market reach and capture sizeable growth 
opportunities to drive long-term shareholder value creation.

NEW FEATURE
DEVELOPMENT

INITIATIVES TARGET VALUE-ADDED 
SOLUTIONS FOR HIGHER-GROWTH APPLICATIONS

AQUIRED
ASSEMBLÉON

IN STRATEGIC TRANSACTION

A

d

v

a

n

c

e
d P

E

q
uip

C

A

G

a

c

k

R 2

m

e

a
gin

nt T

g  

A

M

015
–

2

018

61%

>60% R&D

Focused on New
Growth Initiatives

OVER

90,000

K&S machines around the world served 
80% of all semiconductor units produced in 2015.

This sizeable existing served market combined with 
focused R&D efforts, operational efficiency and an 
expanded solution-driven portfolio provides a robust 
platform for long-term, sustainable growth.

> 7 0   N E W
E N G I N E E R S  

Expanded Served 
Accessible Market by

6
0
%

OPERATING 
MODEL
ADJUSTMENTS 
ENHANCE

Through-Cycle Performance 
and Improve Profitability 

REPURCHASED
6.4 MILLION 
SHARES

Equivalent to >8% of Weighted 
Average Shares Outstanding 
Since Program Initiation

DEPLOYED
$168.9M

OF CAPITAL FOR STRATEGIC 
INITIATIVES DURING FISCAL YEAR 2015 

USA, SANTA ANA (CA)

NETHERLANDS, EINDHOVEN

GERMANY, K ASSEL

THAILAND, BANGKOK

CHINA, SHANGHAI

Research & Development

Research & Development 

Sales & Service

Sales & Service

Sales & Service

Sales & Service

Sales & Service

Manufacturing

GERMANY, NUREMBERG

Sales & Service

SWITZERLAND, BERG

Research & 

Development

USA, ALPHARETTA (GA)

Sales & Service

USA, FORT WASHINGTON (PA)

Research & Development

Sales & Service

ISRAEL, YOKNEAM

Research & Development

Manufacturing

MALAYSIA, KUALA LUMPUR

Sales & Service

Shared Service Operations

SOUTH KOREA, SEOUL

Sales & Service

JAPAN, TOKYO

Sales & Service

CHINA, SUZHOU

Research & Development

Sales & Service

Manufacturing

TAIWAN, TAIPEI

Sales & Service

PHILIPPINES, MUNTINLUPA CITY

Sales & Service

SINGAPORE (CORPORATE HQ)

Research & Development

Sales & Service

Manufacturing

 
FOCUS ON GROWTH

Kulicke & Soffa continues to leverage its market leadership positions, operational flexibility, debt-free 

balance sheet and technological competencies to expand its market reach and capture sizeable growth 

opportunities to drive long-term shareholder value creation.

NEW FEATURE

DEVELOPMENT

INITIATIVES TARGET VALUE-ADDED 

SOLUTIONS FOR HIGHER-GROWTH APPLICATIONS

AQUIRED

ASSEMBLÉON

IN STRATEGIC TRANSACTION

A

d

v

a

n

c

e

E

q

d P

C

A

G

uip

a

c

k

R 2

m

e

015

a

gin

nt T

g  

A

M

–

2

018

61%

>60% R&D

Focused on New

Growth Initiatives

OVER

90,000

K&S machines around the world served 

80% of all semiconductor units produced in 2015.

This sizeable existing served market combined with 

focused R&D efforts, operational efficiency and an 

expanded solution-driven portfolio provides a robust 

platform for long-term, sustainable growth.

> 7 0   N E W

E N G I N E E R S  

Expanded Served 

Accessible Market by

6

0

%

OPERATING 

MODEL

ADJUSTMENTS 

ENHANCE

Through-Cycle Performance 

and Improve Profitability 

REPURCHASED

6.4 MILLION 

SHARES

Equivalent to >8% of Weighted 

Average Shares Outstanding 

Since Program Initiation

DEPLOYED

$168.9M

OF CAPITAL FOR STRATEGIC 

INITIATIVES DURING FISCAL YEAR 2015 

KULICKE & SOFFA (NASDAQ: KLIC)  
IS A GLOBAL LEADER IN THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF  
SEMICONDUCTOR, LED AND ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY EQUIPMENT.

As  a  pioneer  in  this  industry,  K&S  has  provided  customers  with  market-leading  packaging  solutions  for  decades.  In  recent  years,  

K&S  has  expanded  its  product  offerings  through  strategic  acquisitions  and  organic  development,  adding  advanced  packaging, 

advanced SMT, wedge bonding and a broader range of expendable tools to its core ball bonding products. Combined with its extensive 

expertise  in  process  technology,  K&S  is  well  positioned  to  help  customers  meet  the  challenges  of  assembling  the  next-generation 

semiconductor and LED devices.

USA, SANTA ANA (CA)

NETHERLANDS, EINDHOVEN

GERMANY, K ASSEL

THAILAND, BANGKOK

CHINA, SHANGHAI

Sales & Service

Sales & Service

Sales & Service

Research & Development
Sales & Service

Research & Development 
Sales & Service
Manufacturing

SWITZERLAND, BERG

Research & 
Development

GERMANY, NUREMBERG

Sales & Service

SOUTH KOREA, SEOUL

Sales & Service

JAPAN, TOKYO

Sales & Service

CHINA, SUZHOU

Research & Development
Sales & Service
Manufacturing

TAIWAN, TAIPEI

Sales & Service

PHILIPPINES, MUNTINLUPA CITY

Sales & Service

SINGAPORE (CORPORATE HQ)

Research & Development
Sales & Service
Manufacturing

USA, ALPHARETTA (GA)

Sales & Service

USA, FORT WASHINGTON (PA)

Research & Development
Sales & Service

ISRAEL, YOKNEAM

Research & Development
Manufacturing

MALAYSIA, KUALA LUMPUR

Sales & Service
Shared Service Operations

K ULICK E & SOF FA  ::  01  ::  2015 A NNUA L REP OR T

 
DEAR SHAREHOLDERS

Fiscal 2015 was a transformational year for Kulicke & Soffa. We have maintained leadership positions 
within  core  markets,  increased  exposure  into  new  higher-growth  segments,  closed  and  drove  the  
integration of Assembléon and aggressively executed our share repurchase program all while driving 
structural  changes  to  reduce  our  break-even  point.  These  initiatives,  aligned  with  our  longer-term  
corporate growth strategy, are designed to deliver meaningful shareholder value into the future.

Throughout the year, our global R&D team continued to be central 

We are particularly excited about technology inceptions within 

in  maintaining  our  core  market  leadership  positions  and  a  key 

the  advanced  packaging  market,  most  notably  the  slowing  

driver  to  support  future  growth.  Specifically,  within  our  core 

of  transistor  scaling,  driving  demand  for  innovative  package 

markets  we  have  continued  our  focused,  customer-centric  

types  such  as  System-in-Package  (SiP),  Fan-Out-Wafer-Level 

development initiatives while leveraging our rapid development 

Package  (FOWLP),  Package-on-Package  (PoP),  and  Wafer-

process to drive advanced capabilities and process innovations. 

Level-Chip-Scale-Packages  (WLCSP).  These  unique  package 

Our release of the Asterion hybrid wedge bonder, which serves 

designs  feature  greater  chip  integration,  higher  I/O  densities 

the  growing  advanced  interconnect  market,  as  well  as  our  ball 

and  are  generally  more  complex,  requiring  a  broader  range  of 

bonder feature enhancements, which address the needs of the 

advanced packaging solutions with superior precision and proc-

high-growth  quad-flat-no-leads  (QFN)  segment,  are  specific 

ess capability.

examples of this very targeted and rapid development process.

During the year, we have greatly enhanced and broadened our 

Collectively,  our  interconnect  solutions  continue  to  be  utilized 

portfolio  of  advanced  packaging  solutions  through  organic  

globally  and  are  an  essential  portion  of  the  industry’s  produc-

and inorganic initiatives. From an organic perspective, we have 

tion capacity. During 2015, we estimate our install base, of over 

leveraged  an  agile  development  process  and  modular  APAMA 

90,000  machines  across  our  5  key  equipment  lines,  served 

Chip-to-Substrate (C2S) platform design to successfully bring 

nearly  80%  of  the  global  silicon  demand.  Our  leadership  posi-

the  APAMA  Chip-to-Wafer  (C2W)  solution  to  market.  To  date 

tions  in  these  sizeable  and  established  segments  provide 
meaningful  revenue  opportunities  as  well  as  a  broad  set  of 

we  deployed  more  than  10  APAMA  C2S  and  C2W  thermo- 
compression  bonders  at  customer  sites  around  the  world, 

unique technologies and features to resolve the industry’s next 

enabling us to gain tremendous feedback and capture valuable 

set of challenges.

EXPANDING OUR SERVED MARKET

insights.  The  APAMA  platform  allows  us  to  provide  high  accu-

racy flip chip and high density FOWLP solutions to the market. 

Our continual refinements over the past three years, supported 

During  2015,  slightly  more  than  20%  of  global  silicon  demand 

by customer collaborations, organizational agility and technology 

utilized an advanced packaging process traditionally beyond the 

innovation,  have  generated  a  distinct  competitive  advantage 

reach of our core markets. At a broad level, demand for greater 

and positioned our portfolio of solutions for market adoption.

semiconductor performance, higher bandwidth, enhanced func-

tionalities,  smaller  form-factor  and  improvements  in  power 

efficiency,  and  challenges  regarding  node  shrink,  are  collec-

tively  driving  the  advanced  packaging  market.  As  the  industry  

moves to adopt advanced packaging technologies, exciting new 

meaningful growth opportunities are emerging for K&S.

K ULICK E & SOF FA  ::  02  ::  2015 A NNUA L REP OR T

120000

100000

80000

60000

40000

120

80

40

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Advanced 
Packaging

Wire 
Bonding

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016 E

2017 E

2018 E

2019 E

2020 E

Sources: Yole Développement, VLSI Research, K&S Internal Estimates
Advanced Packaging comprised of: Traditional Flip Chip, High Accuracy Flip Chip & Thermo-Compression Bonding

Additionally,  throughout  the  year  we  further  strengthened  our 

Beyond  the  current  initiatives,  our  strategic  business  devel-

competitive  advantage  by  closing  the  Assembléon  acquisition 

opment  team  comprising  cross-functional  leaders  continues  

and driving meaningful progress in its integration into K&S. Our 

to  allow  us  to  actively  screen  and  pursue  meaningful  non-

priorities  of  the  integration  are  focused  on  technology  and 

organic opportunities. Throughout 2015, we’ve examined many 

sales collaborations targeting the sizeable advanced SMT mar-

promising  targets  ranging  from  smaller  technology-focused 

ket,  which  serves  the  increasing  complexity  of  the  industrial 

acquisitions  to  larger  multi-entity  global  organizations.  Our 

and  automotive  markets,  as  well  as  their  growing  advanced 

cross-functional  business  development  teams  continue  to  

packaging  market,  which  expands  our  exposure  within  key 

follow a very structured and methodical approach to examining 

areas of the semiconductor interconnect space. From a devel-

potential opportunities.

opment  standpoint,  we  quickly  identified  specific  feature 

releases  targeting  meaningful  opportunities  in  both  markets. 

Along  with  our  expanding  product  portfolio,  our  capacity  for 

We are executing on our strategy to accelerate development in 

future value creation continues to grow. We continue to believe 

these areas by lever aging our collective institutional knowledge 

our  market  valuation  throughout  2015  has  discounted  these 

and through re-use of existing technical features. These technol-

opportunities;  therefore  we  have  executed  nearly  80%  of  our 

ogy  developments  combined  with  our  deep-rooted  and  estab-

$100 million share repurchase program since its inception just 

lished internal sales network are expanding our served market 

over  a  year  ago.  Going  forward,  we  remain  fully  committed  to 

and  broadening  our  reach.  We  look  forward  to  sharing  our 

deploying  cash  to  supplement  our  broader  business  initiatives 

progress on these initiatives with the investment community.

where the opportunities are financially justified.

TREMENDOUS CAPACITY FOR ONGOING VALUE CREATION

As  we  look  ahead  to  2016  and  beyond,  we’re  confident  that  

Holistically,  these  growth  initiatives  represent  the  largest 

our market leadership, emerging growth opportunities, efficient 

transformational  process  and  mobilization  efforts  in  the  com-

use of resources and capital deployment collectively provide a 

pany’s history. We continue to gain momentum as we leverage 

secure platform for future growth and shareholder value creation. 

our  debt-free  balance  sheet,  leadership  positions  within  large 

We greatly value the support of customers, suppliers, sharehold-

stable  markets,  operational  excellence,  advanced  R&D  com-

ers and fellow colleagues of the Kulicke & Soffa team worldwide.

petencies  and  go-to-market  strategies  to  expand  our  served 

markets,  drive  revenue  diversification  and  generate  mean-

Sincerely,

ingful shareholder value. To that end, during 2015 our transfor-

mational  process  has  expanded  our  capacity  for  deploying 

resources efficiently, prudently and in a value-oriented manner 

Garrett E. Pierce
Chairman of the Board 

making  K&S  a  fundamentally  stronger  company  better  posi-

tioned to execute on future growth opportunities.

Jonathan H. Chou
Chief Financial Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer

K ULICK E & SOF FA  ::  03  ::  2015 A NNUA L REP OR T

SILICON DEMANDHISTORIC & FORECASTMILLIONS OF WAFER STARTS PER YEAR (300mm WAFER EQUIVALENTS)FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

SELECTED

Fiscal Year

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

Statement of Operations Data:

Net revenue

Research and development

Other operating expenses

Other income (expense)

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

$ 536,471

$ 568,569

$ 534,938

$ 791,023

$ 830,401

90,033

83,056

61,620

63,446

65,135

131,808

113,514

119,519

124,718

152,714

454

149

862

(4,975)

(7,632)

Income (loss) from continuing operations after income tax

$  50,639

$  62,988

$  59,358

$ 160,580

$ 127,610

Income (loss) per share from continuing operations, Basic

Income (loss) per share from continuing operations, Diluted

$ 

$ 

0.67

0.67

$ 

$ 

0.82

0.81

$ 

$ 

0.79

0.78

$ 

$ 

2.17

2.13

$ 

$ 

1.77

1.73

Balance Sheet Data:

Working capital excluding discontinued operations

$633,435

$ 756,340

$ 676,986

$ 589,947

$ 405,659

Property, plant and equipment, net

53,234

52,755

47,541

28,441

26,501

Total assets excluding discontinued operations

904,466

944,448

862,994

815,609

728,391

Long-term debt and current portion of long-term debt

—

—

—

—

105,224

Shareholders’ equity

$ 771,891

$ 789,242

$ 716,665

$ 643,667

$ 469,877

Other Selected Data:

Capital expenditures

$  9,519

$  12,401

$  17,172

$  6,902

$  7,688

Depreciation and amortization expense

$  18,972

$  13,520

$  18,489

$  17,265

$  17,761

Notes:

The  financial  data  presented  above  should  be  read  in  conjunction  with  the  consolidated  financial  statements,  related  notes,  and  other  financial  information 
included and incorporated by reference herein. See Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and Item 8. 
“Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 3, 2015 included herein.

In addition to historical information, this report, including the letter to shareholders, contains statements relating to future events or our future results. These 
statements are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by these statutes. See Item 1A. “Risks Related to Our Business and Industry” and Item 7. “Management’s 
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 3, 2015 for a 
discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements contained 
in this report.

K ULICK E & SOF FA  ::  04  ::  2015 A NNUA L REP OR T

2015 FORM 10-K

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 FORM 10-K

    ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended October 3, 2015  

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. 0-121

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) 

PENNSYLVANIA
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

23-1498399
(IRS Employer Identification No.)

23A Serangoon North, Avenue 5, #01-01 K&S Corporate
Headquarters, Singapore

(Address of  principal executive offices)

554369

(Zip Code)

(215) 784-6000
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)

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:
None
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

COMMON STOCK, WITHOUT PAR VALUE
(Title of each class)

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 Exchange 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 and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every 
Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months 
(or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes 

 No 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will 
not be contained, to the best of the registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference 
in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See 
definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. 
(Check one): 

Large accelerated filer 

Accelerated filer

Non-accelerated filer 
(Do not check if a smaller reporting
company)

Smaller reporting company 

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 27, 2015, the aggregate market value of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was 
approximately $1,283.1 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 16, 2015 there were 70,694,772 shares of the registrant's common stock, without par value, outstanding. 

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions of the registrant's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed on or about January 4, 
2016 are incorporated by reference into Part II, Item 5 and Part III, Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 herein of this Report. Such 
Proxy Statement, except for the parts therein which have been specifically incorporated by reference, shall not be deemed 
“filed” for the purposes of this Report on Form 10-K.

 
 
 
 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K
October 3, 2015 
 Index 

Page Number

Item 1.

Business

Part I

Item 1A. Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Item 2.

Properties

Item 3.

Legal Proceedings

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of

Equity Securities

Part II

Item 6.

Selected Consolidated Financial Data

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 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

Part III

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 Accounting Fees and Services

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

Part IV

Signatures

1

11

21

21

21

21

22

23

24

45

46

79

79

80

81

81

81

81

82

83

87

 
 
 
Forward-Looking Statements

PART I

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, our future revenue, sustained, increasing, continuing or strengthening, or decreasing or weakening, demand 
for our products, the continuing transition from gold to copper wire bonding, replacement demand, our research and development 
efforts, our ability to identify and realize new growth opportunities, our ability to control costs and our operational flexibility as 
a result of (among other factors):

• 

• 

projected  growth  rates  in  the  overall  semiconductor  industry,  the  semiconductor  assembly  equipment 
market, and the market for semiconductor packaging materials; and
projected demand for ball, wedge bonder, advanced packaging and surface mount technology equipment 
and for expendable tools.

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.

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 on Form 10-K for the fiscal year 
ended October 3, 2015 (the “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 the Consolidated Financial Statements 
and Notes included in this report, as well as our audited financial statements included in the 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 statements. Given those risks and uncertainties, 
investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as predictions of actual results.

Item 1. BUSINESS

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (the "Company" or "K&S") designs, manufactures and sells capital equipment and expendable 
tools used to assemble semiconductor devices, including integrated circuits (“ICs”), high and low powered discrete devices, light-
emitting diodes (“LEDs”), and power modules. We also service, maintain, repair and upgrade our equipment. Our customers 
primarily consist of semiconductor device manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers (“OSATs”), 
other electronics manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers.

We operate two main business segments, Equipment and Expendable Tools. Our goal is to be the technology leader and the most 
competitive supplier in terms of cost and performance in each of our major product lines. Accordingly, we invest in research and 
engineering projects intended to enhance our position at the leading edge of semiconductor assembly technology. We also remain 
focused on our cost structure through continuous improvement and optimization of operations. Cost reduction efforts remain an 
important part of our normal ongoing operations and are intended to generate savings without compromising overall product quality 
and service levels.

K&S was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1956. Our principal offices are located at 23A Serangoon North Avenue 5, #01-01, 
Singapore 554369 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 

1

amendments to those reports are also available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov and at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 
100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549 or by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. 

Our  year  end  for  each  of  fiscal  2015,  2014  and  2013  was  October 3,  2015,  September 27,  2014,  and  September 28,  2013, 
respectively.

Business Environment

The semiconductor business environment is highly volatile, driven by internal dynamics, both cyclical and seasonal, in addition 
to macroeconomic forces. Over the long term, semiconductor consumption has historically grown, and is forecast 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 integrated device manufacturers 
(“IDMs”) and OSATs, periodically invest aggressively in 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 occasionally 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.  

Our Equipment segment is primarily affected by the industry's internal cyclical and seasonal dynamics in addition to broader 
macroeconomic factors that can positively and 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 Expendable Tools segment is less volatile than our Equipment segment. Expendable Tools sales are more directly tied to 
semiconductor unit consumption rather than capacity requirements and production capability improvements. 

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 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 October 3, 2015, our total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $498.6 
million,  a  $98.5  million  decrease  from  the  prior  fiscal  year  end  (related  primarily  to  our  share  repurchase  program  and  our 
Assembléon acquisition, offset in part by earnings). We believe this strong cash position will allow us to continue to invest in 
product development and pursue non-organic opportunities.

On August 14, 2014, 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 14, 2017. The Company has entered into a written trading plan under Rule 
10b5-1 of the Exchange Act to facilitate repurchases under the Program. The Program may be suspended or discontinued at any 
time and is funded using the Company's available cash. 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 year ended October 3, 
2015, the Company repurchased a total of 6.4 million shares of common stock at a cost of $77.9 million under the Program. As 
of October 3, 2015, our remaining stock repurchase authorization under the Program was approximately $21.5 million.

On January 9, 2015, Kulicke & Soffa Holdings B.V. (“KSH”), the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, acquired Assembléon 
B.V. (“Assembléon”), a subsidiary of Assembléon Holding B.V. The cash purchase price of approximately $97.4 million (EUR80 
million) consisted of $72.5 million for the equity of Assembléon and $24.9 million which was used by Assembléon to settle 
intercompany loans with its parent company. 

Assembléon is a leading technology solutions provider that, together with its subsidiaries, offers assembly equipment, processes 
and services for the automotive, industrial, and advanced packaging markets. The acquisition has expanded the Company's presence 
in automotive, industrial and advanced packaging markets.

2

Technology Leadership

We compete largely by offering our customers among the most advanced equipment and expendable tools available for the wire 
and wedge bonding processes. Our equipment is typically the most productive and has the highest levels of process capability, 
and as a result, we believe it has a lower cost of ownership compared to other equipment in the market. Our expendable tools are 
designed to optimize the performance of the equipment in which they are used. We believe our technology leadership contributes 
to the strong market positions of our ball bonder, wedge bonder and expendable tools products. To maintain our competitive 
advantage, we invest in product development activities designed to produce a stream of improvements to existing products and to 
deliver next-generation products. These investments often focus as much on improvements in the semiconductor assembly process 
as on specific pieces of assembly equipment or expendable tools. In order to generate these improvements, we often 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 copper wire 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 gold and copper ball bonders, 
which enables our customers to handle the leading technologies in terms of bond pad pitch, silicon with the latest node and complex 
wire bonding requirement.  We continue to see demand for our large bondable area (“LA”) configured machines. This LA option 
is now available on all of our Power Series (“PS”) models and allows our customers to gain added efficiencies and to reduce the 
cost of packaging. 

We also leverage the technology leadership of our equipment by optimizing our bonder platforms, and we deliver variants of our 
products to serve emerging high-growth markets. For example, we have developed extensions of our main ball bonding platforms 
to address opportunities in LED assembly, in particular for general lighting. We expect the next wave of growth in the LED market 
to be high brightness LED for general lighting. We also believe there is an opportunity for growth in wire bonding sales at wafer 
level using our AT Premier PLUS.  

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, superior indexing accuracy and teach 
mode. We have also completed the design and development of our next generation hybrid wedge bonder, Asterion, which was 
launched in March 2015. 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 in maintaining our leadership position in 
the wedge bonding market and increase synergies between the various engineering product groups. Furthermore, we continually 
research adjacent market segments where our technologies could be used. Many of these initiatives are in the early stages of 
development and some have yielded results.

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, 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 
best-in-class  throughput  and  accuracy.  This  forms  the  foundation  for  our  advanced  packaging  equipment  development.  We 
established a dedicated team to develop and manufacture advanced packaging bonders 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 anticipated to be earlier adopters of this new packaging technology. 

3

With the acquisition of Assembléon, we broadened our advanced packaging solutions for mass reflow ("APMR") to include flip 
chip, wafer level packaging ("WLP"), fan-out wafer level packaging ("FOWLP"), advanced package-on-package, embedded die, 
and System-in-Package ("SiP"). The acquisition has also enabled us to diversify our business into the automotive, medical and 
industrial markets with advanced surface-mount technology ("SMT") pick and place solutions.

We bring the same technology focus to our expendable 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, expendable 
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.

Products and Services

The Company operates two segments: Equipment and Expendable Tools. The following table reflects net revenue by business 
segment for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013: 

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

(dollar amounts in thousands) Net revenues
472,002
Equipment
64,469
Expendable Tools
536,471

$

$

% of total
net revenue

Net revenues
503,049
65,520
568,569

88.0% $
12.0%
100.0% $

% of total
net revenue

Net revenues
472,567
62,371
534,938

88.5% $
11.5%
100.0% $

% of total
net revenue

88.3%
11.7%
100.0%

See Note 14 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for our financial results by business segment.

Equipment Segment

We manufacture and sell a line of ball bonders, wafer level bonders and heavy wire wedge bonders that are sold to semiconductor 
device manufacturers, OSATs, other electronics manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers. Ball bonders are used to 
connect very fine wires, typically made of gold or copper, between the bond pads of the semiconductor device, or die, and the 
leads on its package. Wafer level bonders mechanically apply bumps to die, typically while still in the wafer format, for some 
variants of the flip chip assembly process. Heavy wire wedge bonders use either aluminum wire or ribbon to perform the same 
function in packages that cannot use gold or copper wire because of either high electrical current requirements or other package 
reliability  issues.  We  believe  our  equipment  offers  competitive  advantages  by  providing  customers  with  high  productivity/
throughput, superior package quality/process control, and, as a result, a lower cost of ownership. 

4

 
 
 
 
Our principal Equipment segment products include:

Business Unit

Product Name (1)

Typical Served Market

Ball bonders

IConnPS PLUS

Advanced and ultra fine pitch applications

IConnPS PLUS LA

Large area substrate and matrix applications

IConnPS PLUS ELA

Extended large area substrate and matrix applications

IConnPS ProCu

High-end copper wire applications demanding advanced process
capability and high productivity

IConnPS ProCu PLUS

High-end copper wire applications demanding advanced process
capability and high productivity

IConnPS ProCu LA

Large area substrate and matrix applications for copper wire

IConnPS ProCu PLUS LA

Large area substrate and matrix applications for copper wire

IConnPS ProCu PLUS ELA Extended large area substrate and matrix applications for copper wire

ConnXPS PLUS

High productivity bonder for low-to-medium pin count applications

ConnXPS LED

LED applications

ConnXPS LED PLUS

LED applications

ConnXPS PLUS LA

Cost performance large area substrate and matrix applications

ConnXPS PLUS ELA

Cost performance extended large area substrate and matrix applications

AT Premier PLUS

Advanced wafer level bonding application

Wedge bonders

3600PLUS

Power hybrid and automotive modules using either heavy aluminum
wire or PowerRibbon®

3700PLUS

7200PLUS

7200HD

Hybrid and automotive modules using thin aluminum wire

Power semiconductors using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

Smaller power packages using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

PowerFusionPS  TL

Power semiconductors using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

PowerFusionPS  HL

Smaller power packages using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

AsterionTM

Power hybrid and automotive modules with extended area using heavy
and thin aluminum

 (1) Power Series (“PS”)

5

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Business Unit

Product Name (1)

Typical Served Market

Advanced Packaging
and Surface Mount
Technology (SMT)

APAMA C2S

Thermo-compression for chip-to-substrate, chip-to-chip and high
accuracy flip chip ("HA FC") bonding applications

APAMA C2W

Hybrid Series

iX Series

iFlex Series

Thermo-compression for chip-to-wafer, high accuracy flip chip ("HA
FC") and high density fan-out wafer level packaging ("HD FOWLP")
bonding applications

Advanced packages assembly applications requiring high throughput
such as flip chip, wafer level packaging ("WLP"), fan-out WLP
("FOWLP"), embedded die, system-in-package ("SiP"), package-on-
package ("POP"), and modules

Advanced Surface Mount Technology ("SMT") applications requiring
extremely high output of passive and active components

Advanced SMT applications requiring multi-lane or line balancing
solutions for standard or oddform passive and active components

Ball Bonders
Automatic ball bonders represent the largest portion of our semiconductor equipment business. Our main product platform for 
ball bonding is the Power Series - a family of assembly equipment that is setting new standards for performance, productivity, 
upgradeability, and ease of use. 

 Our portfolio of ball bonding products includes:

•  The IConnPS PLUS: high-performance ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper wire.
•  The IConnPS PLUS LA: high-performance large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper wire.
•  The IConnPS PLUS ELA: high-performance extended large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or 

copper wire.

•  The ConnXPS PLUS: cost-performance ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper wire.
•  The ConnXPS PLUS LA: cost-performance large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper 

wire.

•  The ConnXPS PLUS ELA: cost-performance extended large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or 

copper wire.

•  The ConnXPS LED and ConnXPS LED PLUS:  ball bonders targeted specifically at the fast growing LED market.
•  The IConnPS ProCu and IConnPS ProCu PLUS: high-performance copper wire ball bonders for advanced wafer nodes at 

28 nanometer and below.

•  The IConnPS ProCu LA and IConnPS ProCu PLUS LA: high-performance large area copper wire ball bonders for advanced 

wafer nodes at 28 nanometer and below.

•  The IConnPS ProCu PLUS ELA: high-performance extended large area copper wire ball bonders for advanced wafer 

nodes at 28 nanometer and below.

•  The AT Premier PLUS: ball bonders which utilize a modified wire bonding process to mechanically place bumps on 
devices, while still in a wafer format for variants of the flip chip assembly process. Typical applications include CMOS 
image sensors, SAW filters, MEMS and high brightness LEDs. These applications are commonly used in most, if not all, 
smartphones available today in the market.

Our Power Series products are setting new standards in wire bonding. Our ball bonders are capable of performing very fine pitch 
bonding, as well as creating the complex loop shapes needed in the assembly of advanced semiconductor packages and bonding 

6

on the latest silicon node-28 nanometer. Most of our installed base of gold wire bonders can also be retrofitted for copper applications 
through kits we sell separately. 

Heavy Wire Wedge Bonders

We are the leaders in the design and manufacture of heavy wire wedge bonders for the power semiconductor and automotive power 
module markets. Heavy wire wedge bonders may use either aluminum wire or aluminum ribbon to connect semiconductor chips 
in power packages, power hybrids and automotive modules for products such as motor control modules or inverters for hybrid 
cars. In addition, we see some potential use for our wedge bonder products in high reliability interconnections of rechargeable 
batteries in hybrid and electric automotive applications.

Our portfolio of wedge bonding products includes:

•  The 3600PLUS:  high speed, high accuracy wire bonders designed for power modules, automotive packages and other 

heavy wire multi-chip module applications.

•  The 3700PLUS: wire bonders designed for hybrid and automotive modules using thin aluminum wire.
•  The 7200PLUS:  dual head wedge bonders designed specifically for power semiconductor applications.
•  The 7200HD:  heavy wire wedge bonders designed for smaller power packages using either aluminum wire or ribbon.
•  The PowerFusionPS Semiconductor Wedge Bonders - Configurable in single, dual and multi-head configurations using 

aluminum wire and PowerRibbonTM: 

The PowerFusionPS TL: designed for low-cost, high volume power semiconductor applications. 
The PowerFusionPS HL and PowerFusionPS HLx: designed for advanced power semiconductor applications.

•  The AsterionTM:  latest generation hybrid wedge bonder. Larger area, higher speed and accuracy wedge bonders for power 

modules, automotive packages, battery applications and other aluminium wedge interconnect applications.

While wedge bonding traditionally utilizes aluminum wire, all of our heavy wire wedge bonders may be modified to bond aluminum 
ribbon  using  our  proprietary  PowerRibbon®  process. Aluminum  ribbon  offers  device  makers  performance  advantages  over 
traditional round wire and is being increasingly used for high current packages and automotive applications.

Our PowerFusionPS series are driven by new powerful direct-drive motion systems and expanded pattern recognition capabilities. 
The advanced interconnect capabilities of PowerFusionPS  improves the processing of high-density power packages, due to an 
expanded bondable area, wider leadframe capability, superior indexing accuracy and teach mode.

In March 2015, we introduced AsterionTM, a hybrid wedge bonder that has the capabilities to handle a multitude of interconnect 
materials including large and small aluminum, copper wire, PowerRibbon®, as well as aluminum copper-clad ribbon.    

Advanced Packaging and Surface Mount Technology 

Our APAMA (Advanced Packaging with Adaptive Machine Analytics) C2S (chip-to-substrate) bonder is designed for high accuracy 
and high throughput flip chip, thermo-compression bonding applications. It delivers die-stacking solutions for 2.5D and 3D or 
through silicon via ("TSV") ICs.

In  September  2015,  we  introduced  the APAMA  Chip-to-Wafer  (“C2W”)  bonder.  The  C2W  system  enables APAMA's  high 
throughput architecture to be applied to 2.5D and 3D packages using silicon or glass interposers. The C2W dual head system also 
provides a highly adaptable manufacturing platform addressing future applications, which require highly accurate die placement 
such as High Density FOWLP. The C2W platform, combined with the capacity of the C2S platform, enables the APAMA TCB 
systems to support assembly for the full range of stacked TSV products. 

With the acquisition of Assembléon, we have broadened our product offering with APMR solutions to address flip chip, WLP, 
FOWLP, POP, embedded die, SiP  and modules markets. The acquisition also enables us to diversify our business while further 
expanding market reach into the automotive, medical and industrial segments with SMT pick and place solutions.

Other Equipment Products and Services

We also sell manual wire bonders, and we offer spare parts, equipment repair, maintenance and servicing, training services, and 
upgrades for our equipment through our Support Services business unit.  

Our K&S Care service is designed to help customers operate their machines at an optimum level under the care of our trained 
specialists. K&S Care includes a range of programs, offering different levels of service depending on customer needs.

7

Expendable Tools Segment

We manufacture and sell a variety of expendable tools for a broad range of semiconductor packaging applications. Our principal 
Expendable Tools segment products include:

•  Capillaries: expendable tools used in ball bonders. Made of ceramic and other materials, a capillary guides the wire during 
the ball bonding process. Its features help control the bonding process. We design and build capillaries suitable for a broad 
range of applications, including for use on our competitors' equipment. In addition to capillaries used for gold wire bonding, 
we have developed capillaries for use with copper wire to achieve optimal performance in copper wire bonding. In January 
2015, we introduced QuantisTM QFN Capillary, our latest copper wire bonding capillary designed for QFN (Quad Flat No-
lead) application. 

•  Dicing blades:  expendable tools used by semiconductor manufacturers to cut silicon wafers into individual semiconductor 

die or to cut packaged semiconductor units into individual units.  

•  Bonding wedges:  expendable tools used in heavy wire wedge bonders. Heavy wire wedge tools are used for both wire 

and ribbon applications.

Customers

Our major customers include IDMs and OSATs, industrial manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers. Revenue from our 
customers may vary significantly from year-to-year based on their respective capital investments, operating expense budgets, and 
overall industry trends. 

The following table reflects our top ten customers, based on net revenue, for each of the last three fiscal years:

Fiscal 2015

Fiscal 2014

Fiscal 2013

1 Amkor Technology Inc.

1 Haoseng Industrial Co., Ltd.  **

1 Siliconware Precision Industries, Ltd. *

2 Haoseng Industrial Co., Ltd.  **

2 Advance Semiconductor Engineering

2 Advance Semiconductor Engineering

3 Skyworks Solutions Incorporated

3 Amkor Technology Inc.

3 STATS ChipPAC Ltd

4 ST Microelectronics

5 Renesas Semiconductor

4 Skyworks Solutions Incorporated

4 Haoseng Industrial Co., Ltd.  **

5 Powertech Technology Inc.

5 Amkor Technology Inc.

6 First Technology China, Ltd. **

6 Orient Semiconductor Electronics, Ltd.

6 Rohm Intergrated Systems

7 Orient Semiconductor Electronics, Ltd.

7 Texas Instruments, Inc.

7 Orient Semiconductor Electronics, Ltd.

8 Texas Instruments, Inc.

9 Rohm Integrated Systems

8 Greatek Electronics Inc.

8 Super Power International Ltd **

9 Super Power International Ltd **

9 ST Microelectronics

10 Xinye Electronics. Co  **

10 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.

10 First Technology China, Ltd. **

*    Represents more than 10% of our net revenue for the applicable fiscal year.
**  Distributor of our products.

Approximately 91.2%, 94.4%, and 97.3% of our net revenue for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively, were for shipments to 
customer locations outside of the U.S., primarily in the Asia/Pacific region, and we expect sales outside of the U.S. to continue to 
represent a substantial majority of our future net revenue. 

See Note 14 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for sales to customers by geographic 
location.

Sales and Customer Support

We believe long-term customer relationships are critical to our success, and comprehensive sales 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, or end-user application. In all cases, 
our goal is to position our sales 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  and  customer  support  resources  are  located  primarily  in 
Singapore, Taiwan, China, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, Thailand, the U.S., Germany, Mexico and the Netherlands. 
Supporting these local resources, we have technology centers offering additional process expertise in Singapore, China, Israel, 
and the U.S. 

8

By establishing relationships with semiconductor manufacturers, OSATs, and vertically integrated manufacturers of electronic 
systems, we gain insight into our customers' future semiconductor packaging strategies. 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 October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014:

(in thousands)
Backlog

Manufacturing

As of

October 3, 2015
52,500

September 27, 2014
79,100

$

$

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. 

Equipment

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 and APAMA bonder manufacturing and assembly is done at our facility in Singapore. Our APMR 
and SMT solutions manufacturing and assembly is done at our facility in the Netherlands. We have ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 
certifications for our equipment manufacturing facilities in Singapore and the Netherlands.

Expendable Tools   

We manufacture dicing blades, capillaries and a portion of our bonding wedge inventory at our facility in Suzhou, China. The 
capillaries are made using blanks produced at our facility in Yokneam, Israel. We both produce and outsource the production of 
our bonding wedges. Both the Suzhou and Yokneam facilities are ISO 9001 certified.  The Suzhou facility is also ISO 14001 and 
ISO 18001 certified.

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. Research and development expense was $90.0 million, 
$83.1 million, and $61.6 million during fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively. 

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. 

9

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 
and customer support, each of which contribute to lower the overall cost per package being manufactured. Our major equipment 
competitors include:

•  Ball bonders: ASM Pacific Technology and Shinkawa Ltd.

•  Wedge bonders: ASM Pacific Technology, Cho-Onpa, F&K Delvotec, and Hesse Mechatronics

•  APAMA  bonders: ASM  Pacific Technology,  BE  Semiconductor  Industries  N.V.,  Shibaura  Mechatronics  Corporation,  

Shinkawa Ltd., and Toray Industries, Inc.

•  APMR solutions: ASM Pacific Technology, BE Semiconductor Industries N.V., HANMI Semiconductor, and Shinkawa 

Ltd.

•  SMT solutions: ASM Pacific Technology, Fuji Machine Mfg. Co., Ltd., Panasonic Factory Solutions Co., Ltd., and Yamaha 

Motor Co., Ltd. 

Significant competitive factors in the semiconductor packaging materials industry include performance, price, delivery, product 
life, and quality. Our significant expendable tools competitors include:

•  Capillaries: Adamant Co., Ltd., PECO, and Small Precision Tools, Inc.

•  Dicing blades: Disco Corporation and Zhengzhou Hongtuo Superabrasive Products Co. Ltd 

•  Bonding wedges: Small Precision Tools, Inc.

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 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. 

Business Continuity Management Plan

We have developed and implemented a global Business Continuity Management Plan ("Plan") for our business operations. The 
Plan 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 
Plan has been designed to be flexible in responding to actual events as they occur.  The Plan 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.

Employees

As of October 3, 2015, we had approximately 2,373 regular full-time employees and 118 temporary workers worldwide.

10

Item 1A.  RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY 

Our operating results and financial condition 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 historic industry-wide volatility will persist. 

Unpredictable spending by our customers due to uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment could adversely affect our 
net revenue and profitability.

We depend upon demand from our customers including IDMs and OSATs, industrial manufacturers and automotive electronics 
suppliers. Our net revenue and profitability is based upon our customers' level of anticipated sales. Reductions or other fluctuations 
in their spending as a result of uncertain conditions in the macroeconomic environment, such as government, economic or fiscal 
instability, restricted global credit conditions, reduced demand, unbalanced inventory levels, fluctuations in interest rates, higher 
energy  prices,  or  other  conditions,  could  adversely  affect  our  net  revenue  and  profitability. The  impact  of  general  economic 
slowdowns could make our customers cautious and delay orders until the economic environment becomes clearer. 

The semiconductor industry is volatile with sharp periodic downturns and slowdowns. Cyclical industry downturns are made 
worse by volatile global economic conditions.

Our operating results are significantly affected by the capital expenditures of semiconductor manufacturers, both IDMs and OSATs. 
Expenditures by our customers depend on the current and anticipated market demand for semiconductors and products that use 
semiconductors, including mobile devices, personal computers, consumer electronics, telecommunications equipment, automotive 
goods  and  other  industrial  products.  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. 

The semiconductor industry is volatile, with periods of rapid growth followed by industry-wide retrenchment. These periodic 
downturns and slowdowns have 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, expendable tools. There can be no assurances regarding levels of demand for our 
products. In any case, we believe the historical volatility of our business, both upward and downward, will persist. 

We may experience increasing price pressure. 

Typically our average selling prices have declined over time. We seek to offset this decline by continually reducing our cost structure 
by consolidating operations in lower cost areas, reducing other operating costs, and by pursuing product strategies focused on 
product performance and customer service. These efforts may not be able to fully offset price declines; therefore, our 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 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 level;

the mix of products we sell because, for example:

certain lines of equipment within our business segments are more profitable than others; and
some sales arrangements have higher gross margins than others;

cancelled or deferred orders;

seasonality;

competitive pricing pressures may force us to reduce prices;

11

• 
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• 

• 

• 

higher than anticipated costs of development or production of new equipment models;
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 facilities; 

inventory write-offs due to obsolescence; and

an increase in the cost of labor or materials.

Because  our  net  revenue  and  operating  results  are  volatile  and  difficult  to  predict,  we  believe  consecutive  period-to-period 
comparisons of our operating results may not be a good indication of our future performance. 

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. 

The transition from gold to copper wire bonding by our customers and the industry may be substantially completed. 

Since fiscal 2010, many of our customers have converted their bonding wire from gold to copper wire. Since this initial conversion, 
a majority of our wire bonder sales are copper capable bonders. In fiscal 2015, 70% of total ball bonders sold by the Company 
were copper capable bonders. If the transition from gold to copper wire bonding by our customers is substantially completed or 
customers transition away from copper wire bonding, there may be a reduced demand for our wire bonders and our financial 
condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

Substantially all of our sales and manufacturing operations are located outside of the U.S., and we rely on independent foreign 
distribution channels for certain product lines, all of which subject us to risks, including risks from changes in trade regulations, 
currency fluctuations, political instability and conflicts. 

Approximately 91.2%, 94.4%, and 97.3% of our net revenue for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively, was for shipments to 
customers located outside of the U.S., primarily in the Asia/Pacific region. 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. 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 manufacture our ball, wedge and APAMA bonders in Singapore, our 
APMR and SMT solutions in the Netherlands, our dicing blades, capillaries and bonding wedges in China and capillary blanks in 

12

Israel. In addition, our corporate headquarters is in Singapore and we have sales, service and support personnel in China, Israel, 
Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.S., Germany, Mexico and the Netherlands. 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, and particularly Asia/Pacific, commerce, such as: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 
• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

risks of war and civil disturbances or other events that may limit or disrupt manufacturing and markets;

seizure of our foreign assets, including cash;

longer payment cycles in foreign markets;

foreign exchange restrictions and capital controls; 

restrictions on the repatriation of our assets, including cash; 

significant foreign and U.S. taxes on repatriated cash;

difficulties of staffing and managing dispersed international operations;

possible disagreements with tax authorities;

episodic events outside our control such as, for example, outbreaks of influenza or other illnesses;

natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires or floods;

tariff and currency fluctuations;
changing political conditions;

labor work stoppages and strikes in our factories or the factories of our suppliers;

foreign governments' monetary policies and regulatory requirements;

less protective foreign intellectual property laws; 

new laws and regulations, such as Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP); and

legal systems which are less developed and may be less predictable than those in the U.S.

In addition, there is a potential risk of conflict and instability in the relationship between Taiwan and China. Conflict or instability 
could disrupt the operations of our customers and/or suppliers in both Taiwan and China. Additionally, our manufacturing operations 
in China could be disrupted by any conflict.

Our international operations also depend upon 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. 

Increased labor costs and competition for qualified personnel may reduce the efficiency of our flexible manufacturing model 
and adversely impact our operating results.

There is some uncertainty with respect to the pace of rising labor costs in the various countries in which we operate. In addition, 
there is substantial competition in China, Singapore, Israel and the Netherlands for qualified and capable personnel, which may 
make it difficult for us to recruit and retain qualified employees. If we are unable to staff sufficient personnel at our China, Singapore, 
Israel and the Netherlands facilities or if there are increases in labor costs that we are unable to recover in our pricing to our 
customers, we may experience increased manufacturing costs, which would adversely affect our operating results. 

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. dollars or Euro, an increase in value of the U.S. dollar or Euro 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 other than Euro could make our costs in 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 
or the Euro 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 

13

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, Malaysian Ringgit, 
Swiss Franc, Philippine Peso, Thai Baht, Taiwan Dollar, South Korean Won, Israeli Shekel and Euro. Although we from time to 
time have entered into foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge certain foreign currency exposure of our operating expenses, 
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. 

We may not be able to continue to consolidate manufacturing and other facilities without incurring unanticipated costs and 
disruptions to our business. 

As part of our ongoing efforts to drive further efficiency, we may consolidate our manufacturing facilities. Should we consolidate, 
we may experience unanticipated events, including the actions of governments, suppliers, employees or customers, which may 
result in unanticipated costs and disruptions to our business.  

Our business depends on attracting and retaining management, marketing 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, marketing, 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 may leave our company, such as the recent departure of our chief executive officer on October 5, 2015. While we 
strive to reduce the negative impact of such changes, 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 disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting, 
and the results of our operations. 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. 

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. As a result, 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. If we fail to accurately 
forecast demand for our products, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected. 

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 or reduce the size of an integrated circuit 
package, as compared to traditional wire bonding. These technologies include flip chip 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, such as 
those discussed above, which do not employ our products. If a significant shift to alternative packaging technologies to a technology 
not offered by us were to occur, demand for our equipment and related packaging materials may be materially and adversely 
affected. Given the lack of a significant alternate revenue stream other than wire bonding, a reduced demand for our equipment 
could materially and adversely affect our financial results.

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. Sales to our largest customers, defined as 

14

more than 10% of our net revenue, comprised 11.0% of our net revenue for fiscal 2013, and in the future could again represent a 
significant percentage of our sales.  No customer accounted for more than 10% of our net revenue in either fiscal 2014 or 2015.

We expect 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. 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 and production capacity quickly enough to meet the needs of our customers, they may turn to other suppliers 
making it more difficult for us to retain their business. Similarly, if we are unable for any other reason to meet production or 
delivery schedules, particularly during a period of escalating demand, our relationships with our key customers could be adversely 
affected. If we lose orders from a significant customer, or if a significant customer reduces its orders substantially, these losses or 
reductions 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. 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. As a result, we 
must commit resources to the manufacture of products without binding purchase commitments from customers. 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. Our inability to sell products after we devote significant resources to them could have a material adverse 
effect on both our levels of inventory and revenues. While we currently believe our inventory levels are appropriate for the current 
economic environment, continued global economic uncertainty may result in lower than expected demand.

Undetected problems in our products could directly impair our financial results. 

If 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 substantial repair, replacement or service costs and potential damage to our 
reputation. Continued improvement in manufacturing capabilities, control of material and manufacturing quality and costs and 
product testing are critical factors in our future growth. There can be no assurance that our efforts to monitor, develop, modify and 
implement appropriate tests and manufacturing processes for our products will 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 or potential damage to our 
reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. 

Costs related to product defect and errata may harm our results of operations and business.

Costs of product defects and errata (deviations from product specifications) due to, for example, problems in our design and 
manufacturing processes, or those of our suppliers, could include: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

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.

These costs could be large and may increase expenses and lower our operating profits. Our reputation with customers or end users 
could be damaged as a result of product defects and errata, and product demand could be reduced. These factors could harm our 
business and financial results.

We depend on our suppliers, including sole source suppliers, for critical raw materials, components and subassemblies. If our 
suppliers do not deliver their products to us, 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 many components 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;

15

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• 

• 

• 

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• 

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; 

the inability of suppliers to meet customer demand requirements during volatile cycles;

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 work stoppage or  
fire, earthquake, flooding or other natural disasters;

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 we are unable to deliver products to our customers on time and at expected cost for these or any other reasons, or we are unable 
to meet customer expectations as to cycle time, or we are unable to maintain acceptable product quality or reliability, our business, 
financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected. 

New regulations related to “conflict minerals” may force us to incur additional expenses, may make our supply chain more 
complex and may result in damage to our reputation with customers. 

In 2012, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, or the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC adopted 
requirements for companies that use certain minerals and metals, known as conflict minerals, in their products, regardless of 
whether these products are manufactured by third parties. These requirements require companies to conduct due diligence and 
disclose whether or not such minerals originate from the Democratic Republic of Congo and certain adjoining countries. These 
requirements could adversely affect the sourcing, availability and pricing of minerals used in the manufacture of semiconductor 
devices, including our products.  In addition, since our supply chain is complex, we may not be able to sufficiently verify the 
origins for these minerals and metals used in our products through the due diligence procedures that we implement, which may 
harm our reputation.  In such event, we may also face difficulties in satisfying customers who require that all of the components 
of our products are certified as conflict mineral free.

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 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. These transactions place 
additional constraints on our management and current labor force. Additionally, these transactions require significant resources 
from our legal, finance and business teams. In addition, we may divest existing businesses, which would cause a decline in revenue 
and may make our financial results more volatile.  If we fail to integrate and manage acquired businesses successfully or to manage 
the risks associated with divestitures, joint ventures or other alliances, our business, financial condition and operating results may 
be materially and adversely affected. 

The market price of our common shares and our earnings per share may decline as a result of any acquisitions or divestitures.

The market price of our common shares may decline as a result of any acquisitions or divestitures made by us if we do not achieve 
the perceived benefits of such acquisitions or divestitures as rapidly or to the extent anticipated by financial or industry analysts 
or if the effect on our financial results is not consistent with the expectations of financial or industry analysts. In addition, the 
failure to achieve expected benefits and unanticipated costs relating to our acquisitions could reduce our future earnings per share.

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 performance, quality, customer support and price. In the semiconductor packaging materials 
industry, 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. Some of these competitors are Asian 

16

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, without regard to other considerations. 

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. New product and material introductions by our competitors or by new market entrants could hurt our sales. If a particular 
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  be  forced  to  reduce  prices  and  could  lose  customers  and  experience  reduced  margins  and 
profitability. 

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 as the duration of our patents often exceeds the 
commercial life cycles of the technologies disclosed and claimed in the patents 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, 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; and

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.

In addition, 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. In 
these cases, we defend, and will continue to defend, against claims or negotiate licenses where we consider these actions appropriate. 
Intellectual property cases are uncertain 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. 

We may be materially and adversely affected by environmental and safety laws and regulations. 

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.  Increasingly,  public  attention  has  focused  on  the  environmental  impact  of 
manufacturing operations and the risk to neighbors of chemical releases from such operations. 

17

Proper waste disposal plays an important role in the operation of our manufacturing plants. In many of our facilities we maintain 
wastewater treatment systems that remove metals and other contaminants from process wastewater. These 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 potential shutdown of operations. 

Compliance with existing or future, land use, environmental 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. 
Any costs or liabilities to comply with or imposed under these laws and regulations could materially and adversely affect our 
business, financial condition and operating results. 

We have the ability to issue additional equity securities, which would lead to dilution of our issued and outstanding common 
shares. 

The issuance of additional equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities will 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 shares. In addition, we are authorized 
to issue, without shareholder approval, up to an aggregate of 200 million common shares, of which approximately 71.2 million 
shares were outstanding as of October 3, 2015. We are also authorized to issue, without shareholder approval, securities convertible 
into either common shares or preferred shares. 

Weaknesses in our internal controls and procedures could result in material misstatements in our financial statements. 

Pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over 
financial reporting. Our internal controls over financial reporting are processes designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding 
the  reliability  of  financial  reporting  and  the  preparation  of  financial  statements  in  accordance  with  U.S. generally  accepted 
accounting principles. A material weakness is a control deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, that results in a more 
than remote likelihood that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. 

Our  internal  controls  may  not  prevent  all  potential  errors  or  fraud. Any  control  system,  no  matter  how  well  designed  and 
implemented, can only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance that the objectives of the control system will be achieved. 
We  or  our  independent  registered  public  accountants  may  identify  material  weaknesses  in  our  internal  controls  which  could 
adversely affect our ability to ensure proper financial reporting and could affect investor confidence in us and the price of our 
common shares. 

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., 
which our business depends upon. A disruption, infiltration or failure of our information technology systems 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 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. 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.

If the tax holiday arrangements we have negotiated in Singapore change or cease to be in effect or applicable, in part or in 
whole, for any reason, the amount of corporate income taxes we have to pay could significantly increase.

We have structured our operations to maximize the benefit from tax holidays extended to us in Singapore to encourage investment 
or employment. We have the Development and Expansion Incentive (“DEI”) from Singapore Economic Development Board, an 
agency of the Government of Singapore, which provides that certain classes of income we earn in Singapore are subject to reduced 

18

rates of Singapore income tax. In order to retain the tax benefit, we must meet certain operating conditions, among other things, 
maintenance of certain global headquarters functions, specified IP activities and specified manufacturing activities in Singapore. 
The DEI is presently scheduled to expire in 2020. Renewals and extensions of the DEI are at the discretion of the Singapore 
government, and we may not be able to extend the tax incentive arrangement after its expiration on similar terms or at all. We may 
also elect not to renew or extend this tax incentive arrangement. In the absence of DEI, the corporate income tax rate in Singapore 
that would otherwise apply would be 17%. The tax incentive is also subject to our compliance with various operating and other 
conditions. If we cannot, or elect not to, comply with the operating conditions included in the tax incentive, we will lose the related 
tax benefits. In such event, we could be required to refund material tax benefits previously realized by us with respect to that 
incentive.

Risks Related to the Assembléon Acquisition

We face risks associated with integrating Assembléon into the Company.

The successful expansion of our business and operations resulting from the Assembléon acquisition will require significant time, 
effort, attention and dedication of management and may strain our operational and financial resources. It is possible that integrating 
Assembléon and its businesses into the Company could result in changes to or pressure on compliance with standards, controls, 
procedures and policies. This process could expose us to risks and challenges, including:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

unanticipated issues in coordinating information, communication and other systems; 
unexpected loss of key employees; 
distraction of management attention from our other businesses; 
failure to retain key customers; 
the need to modify operating and accounting controls and procedures; and
foreign currency fluctuation that could negatively impact our financial results and cash flows.

In addition, it is possible that our exposure to potential liabilities resulting from Assembléon’s business, some of which may be 
material or unknown, could exceed amounts we can recover through indemnification claims.

These types of challenges and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flows, results of operations 
and financial condition.

We may fail to realize the anticipated benefits of the Assembléon acquisition. 

The Assembléon acquisition is intended to expand our presence in the automotive, industrial and advanced packaging markets.  
The  success  of  the Assembléon  acquisition  will  depend  on,  among  other  things,  our  ability  to  integrate   Assembléon  and  its 
businesses into the Company in a manner that permits growth opportunities and does not disrupt existing client relationships or 
result in decreased revenues due to customer attrition or other factors. Assembléon’s businesses are also subject to certain risks 
that may negatively affect the financial results for our Equipment and Expendable Tools business segments, including, among 
others, the following:

•  Assembléon’s businesses are largely dependent on the health of the industries in which it participates. These industries 
may be impacted by market and regulatory factors, and there can be no assurance that we will realize the potential growth 
opportunities from these industries.  

•  The goodwill established in connection with our acquisition of Assembléon represents the estimated future economic 
benefits arising from the assets we have acquired that did not qualify to be identified and recognized individually. The 
goodwill also includes the value of expected future cash flows of Assembléon, expected synergies with our other affiliates 
and other unidentifiable intangible assets. Goodwill is deemed to have an indefinite useful life and is subject to review 
for impairment annually, or more frequently, whenever circumstances indicate potential impairment. The value of goodwill 
is supported by revenue, which is driven primarily by transaction volume. Intangible assets other than goodwill primarily 
consist of developed technology, customer relationships and trade and brand name.  

•  The calculation of the estimated fair value of goodwill and other intangibles requires the use of significant estimates and 
assumptions that are highly subjective in nature, such as attrition rates, discount rates, future expected cash flows and 
market conditions. Our estimates are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain 
and unpredictable. If actual results differ from our assumptions, we may not realize the full value of our intangible assets 
and goodwill.

19

For these and other reasons there can be no assurance that the anticipated synergies and benefits from the transaction will be 
realized fully or at all. If we fail to realize the full value of our intangible assets and goodwill related to the acquisition, we may 
be required to write down or write off all such intangible assets or goodwill. Such an impairment of our goodwill or intangible 
assets could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Other Risks

Our ability to recognize tax benefits on future domestic U.S. tax losses and our existing U.S. net operating loss position may 
be limited.

We have generated net operating loss carry-forwards and other tax attributes for U.S. tax purposes (“Tax Benefits”) that can be 
used to reduce our future federal income tax obligations. Under the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the potential future utilization of our 
Tax Benefits for U.S. tax purposes may be limited following an ownership change. An ownership change is generally defined as 
a greater than 50% point increase in equity ownership by 5% shareholders in any three-year period under Section 382 of the Internal 
Revenue Code.  An ownership change may significantly limit our ability to fully utilize our net operating losses which could 
materially and adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. As of October 3, 2015, we have foreign net operating 
loss carryforwards of $102.5 million, domestic state net operating loss carryforwards of $186.0 million, domestic federal net 
operating loss carryforwards of $3.2 million, and tax credit carryforwards of $7.4 million that will reduce future taxable income.

Potential changes to U.S. and foreign tax laws could increase our income tax expense.

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and many foreign jurisdictions. Officials in some of the jurisdictions in which we do 
business have proposed, or announced that they are reviewing, tax changes that could potentially increase taxes, and other revenue-
raising laws and regulations. It is unclear whether these proposed tax revisions will be enacted, or, if enacted, what the scope of 
the revisions will be. Changes in U.S. and foreign tax laws, if enacted, could materially and adversely affect our financial condition 
and operating results.

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. 

Terrorist attacks, or other acts of violence or war may affect the markets in which we operate and our profitability. 

Terrorist attacks may negatively affect our operations. There can be no assurance that there will not be further terrorist attacks 
against the U.S. or U.S. businesses. Terrorist attacks or armed conflicts may directly impact our physical facilities or those of our 
suppliers or customers. Our primary facilities include administrative, sales and research and development facilities in Singapore 
and the U.S. and manufacturing and research and development facilities in China, and Israel. Additional terrorist attacks may 
disrupt the global insurance and reinsurance industries with the result that we may not be able to obtain insurance at historical 
terms and levels for all of our facilities. Furthermore, additional attacks may make travel and the transportation of our supplies 
and products more difficult and more expensive and ultimately affect the sales of our products in the U.S. and overseas. Additional 
attacks or any broader conflict, could negatively impact our domestic and international sales, our supply chain, our production 
capability and our ability to deliver products to our customers. Political and economic instability in some regions of the world 
could negatively impact our business. The consequences of terrorist attacks or armed conflicts are unpredictable, and we may not 
be able to foresee events that could have an adverse effect on our business. 

20

Item 1B.  UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 

None.

Item 2.  PROPERTIES

The following table reflects our major facilities as of October 3, 2015:

Facility (1)

Approximate Size Function

Business Segment and
Products Manufactured

Lease Expiration
Date

Singapore

198,000 sq. ft.

Corporate headquarters,
manufacturing, technology, sales
and service center

Equipment: ball and
wedge bonders,
advanced packaging

November 2043 (2)

Suzhou, China

155,000 sq. ft.

Manufacturing, technology and
shared support services center

Veldhoven,
Netherlands

126,000 sq. ft.

Manufacturing, technology, sales
and service center

Fort Washington,
Pennsylvania

Santa Ana,
California

88,000 sq. ft.

65,000 sq. ft.

Yokneam, Israel

21,000 sq. ft.

Technology, sales and service
center

Technology, sales and service
center

Manufacturing and technology
center

Expendable Tools:
capillaries, dicing blades
and bonding wedges

Owned

Equipment: Advanced
Packaging and Surface
Mount Technology
(SMT)

Not applicable

October 2015 (3)

September 2033
(4)

Not applicable

August 2036 (5)

Expendable Tools:
capillary blanks (semi-
finish)

January 2018 (6)

(1)  Each of the facilities listed in this table is leased other than the facility in Suzhou, China.

(2)  Includes lease extension periods at the Company's option. Initial lease expires in November 2023.

(3)  Company relocated from this property to Eindhoven, Netherlands from current location in October 2015. The new lease 

will expire in September 2020.

(4)  Includes lease extension periods at the Company's option. Initial lease expires in September 2023.

(5)  Includes lease extension periods at the Company's option. Initial lease expires in August 2026.

(6)  Includes lease extension periods at the Company's option. Initial lease expired in January 2015.

In addition, the Company rents space for sales and service offices and administrative functions in China, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, 
South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand 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 cases arising out of our business. We cannot be assured of the results of 
any pending or future litigation, but we do not believe resolution of these matters will materially or adversely affect our business, 
financial condition or operating results.

Item 4.  MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

21

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.” The following table reflects the ranges 
of high and low sale prices for our common stock as reported on Nasdaq for the periods indicated:

PART II

First Quarter
Second Quarter
Third Quarter
Fourth Quarter

Fiscal 2015

Fiscal 2014

High

Low

High

Low

$
$
$
$

14.84
16.54
16.08
12.13

$
$
$
$

12.14
13.81
12.16
8.80

$
$
$
$

13.70
13.30
15.10
15.23

$
$
$
$

11.19
10.73
11.74
13.44

On November 16, 2015, there were approximately 253 holders of record of the shares of outstanding common stock. The payment of 
dividends on our common stock is within the discretion of our board of directors; however, we have not historically paid any dividends 
on our common stock. In addition, we do not expect to declare dividends on our common stock in the near future, since we intend to retain 
earnings to finance our business. 

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 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 2016 
Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or about January 4, 2016. 

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities and Use of Proceeds

None.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

Share repurchase activity during the quarter ended October 3, 2015 was as follows (in millions, except number of shares, which are reflected 
in thousands, and per share amounts):

Periods

26 July, 2015 to 29 August, 2015

30 August, 2015 to 3 October, 2015

Total

Total
Number of
Shares
Purchased

220

1,609

1,829

Average Price
Paid Per Share

10.29

9.28

Total Number
of Shares
Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced
Plans or
Programs

Approximate
Dollar Value of
Shares That
May Yet Be
Purchase Under
the Plans or
Programs (1)

$

$

220

1,609

1,829

36.50

21.50

(1)  On August 14, 2014, 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 14, 2017. The Company has entered into a written trading plan under Rule 10b5-1 of 
the Exchange Act to facilitate repurchases under the Program. The Program may be suspended or discontinued at any time and will be 
funded using the Company's available cash. 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 will depend on market conditions as well as corporate and regulatory considerations. The $21.5  million represents the remaining 
amount available to repurchase shares under the Program.

22

Item 6.  SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA

The following tables reflect selected historical consolidated financial data derived from the consolidated financial statements of 
Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. and subsidiaries as of and for each of the five fiscal years ended 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 
2011. 

This data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, including notes and other financial information 
included elsewhere in this report or other reports filed previously by us in respect of the fiscal years identified in the column 
headings of the tables below. 

(in thousands)
Statement of Operations Data:

Net revenue

Income from operations

Interest income (expense), net

Income from continuing operations before income
tax

(Benefit) Provision for income taxes from continuing
operations (1)

Net income

2015

2014

Fiscal

2013

2012

2011

536,471

37,251

454

568,569

76,984

149

534,938

65,806

862

791,023

179,226
(4,975)

830,401

170,060
(7,632)

37,705

77,133

66,668

174,251

162,428

(12,934)
50,639

$

14,145

7,310

13,671

34,818

$

62,988

$

59,358

$

160,580

$

127,610

(1) The following are the most significant factors that affected our provision for income taxes: implementation of our international 
restructuring plan which was approved in fiscal 2011; volatility in our earnings each fiscal year and variation in earnings among 
various  tax  jurisdictions  in  which  we  operate;  changes  in  assumptions  regarding  repatriation  of  earnings;  changes  in  tax 
legislation; and our provision for various tax exposure items.

Per Share Data:

Net income per share: (1)

Basic

Diluted

Weighted average shares outstanding: (1)

Basic

Diluted

2015

2014

Fiscal

2013

2012

2011

$

$

0.67

0.67

$

$

0.82

0.81

$

$

0.79

0.78

$

$

2.17

2.13

$

$

1.77

1.73

75,414

75,659

76,396

77,292

75,132

76,190

73,887

75,502

71,820

73,341

(1)  For fiscal 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011, the exercise of dilutive stock options and expected vesting of time-based 

and market-based restricted stock were included. 

(in thousands)
Balance Sheet Data:

2015

2014

Fiscal

2013

2012

2011

Cash, cash equivalents, investments and restricted cash $

498,614

$ 597,086

$ 525,040

$ 440,244

$ 384,522

Working capital excluding discontinued operations

Total assets excluding discontinued operations

Long-term debt and current portion of long-term debt

Long-term and current portion of financing obligation

Shareholders' equity

633,435

904,466

—

17,003

771,891

756,340

944,448

—

19,616

789,242

676,986

862,994

—

19,396

716,665

589,947

815,609

—

—

405,659

728,391

105,224

—

643,667

469,877

23

Item  7.  MANAGEMENT'S  DISCUSSION  AND  ANALYSIS  OF  FINANCIAL  CONDITION  AND  RESULTS  OF 
OPERATIONS

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, our future revenue, sustained, increasing, continuing or strengthening, or decreasing or weakening, demand 
for our products, the continuing transition from gold to copper wire bonding, replacement demand, our research and development 
efforts, our ability to identify and realize new growth opportunities, our ability to control costs and our operational flexibility as 
a result of (among other factors):

• 

• 

projected  growth  rates  in  the  overall  semiconductor  industry,  the  semiconductor  assembly  equipment 
market, and the market for semiconductor packaging materials; and
projected demand for ball, wedge bonder, advanced packaging and surface mount technology equipment 
and for expendable tools.

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.

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 on Form 10-K for the fiscal year 
ended October 3, 2015 (the “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 the Consolidated Financial Statements 
and Notes included in this report, as well as our audited financial statements included in the 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 statements. Given those risks and uncertainties, 
investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as predictions of actual results.

Introduction

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (the "Company" or "K&S") designs, manufactures and sells capital equipment and expendable 
tools used to assemble semiconductor devices, including integrated circuits (“ICs”), high and low powered discrete devices, light-
emitting diodes (“LEDs”), and power modules. We also service, maintain, repair and upgrade our equipment. Our customers 
primarily consist of semiconductor device manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers (“OSATs”), 
other electronics manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers.

We operate two main business segments, Equipment and Expendable Tools. Our goal is to be the technology leader and the most 
competitive supplier in terms of cost and performance in each of our major product lines. Accordingly, we invest in research and 
engineering projects intended to enhance our position at the leading edge of semiconductor assembly technology. We also remain 
focused on our cost structure through continuous improvement and optimization of operations. Cost reduction efforts remain an 
important part of our normal ongoing operations and are intended to generate savings without compromising overall product quality 
and service levels.

Business Environment

The semiconductor business environment is highly volatile, driven by internal dynamics, both cyclical and seasonal, in addition 
to macroeconomic forces. Over the long term, semiconductor consumption has historically grown, and is forecast 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 integrated device manufacturers 
(“IDMs”) and OSATs, periodically invest aggressively in 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, 

24

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 occasionally 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.  

Our Equipment segment is primarily affected by the industry's internal cyclical and seasonal dynamics in addition to broader 
macroeconomic factors that can positively and 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 Expendable Tools segment is less volatile than our Equipment segment. Expendable Tools sales are more directly tied to 
semiconductor unit consumption rather than capacity requirements and production capability improvements. 

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 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 October 3, 2015, our total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $498.6 
million,  a  $98.5  million  decrease  from  the  prior  fiscal  year  end  (related  primarily  to  our  share  repurchase  program  and  our 
Assembléon acquisition, offset in part by earnings). We believe this strong cash position will allow us to continue to invest in 
product development and pursue non-organic opportunities.

On August 14, 2014, 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 14, 2017. The Company has entered into a written trading plan under Rule 
10b5-1 of the Exchange Act, to facilitate repurchases under the Program. The Program may be suspended or discontinued at any 
time and is funded using the Company's available cash. 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 will depend on market conditions as well as corporate and regulatory considerations. During the year ended 
October 3, 2015, the Company repurchased a total of 6.4 million shares of common stock at a cost of $77.9 million under the 
Program. As of October 3, 2015, our remaining stock repurchase authorization under the Program was approximately $21.5 million.

On  January  9,  2015,  Kulicke  &  Soffa  Holdings  B.V.  (“KSH”),  the  Company's  wholly  owned  subsidiary,  acquired  all  of  the 
outstanding equity interests of Assembléon B.V. (“Assembléon”), a subsidiary of Assembléon Holding B.V. The cash purchase 
price of approximately $97.4 million (EUR80 million) consisted of $72.5 million for 100% of the equity of Assembléon and $24.9 
million which was used by Assembléon to settle intercompany loans with its parent company. 

Assembléon is a leading technology solutions provider that, together with its subsidiaries, offers assembly equipment, processes 
and services for the automotive, industrial, and advanced packaging markets. The acquisition expands the Company's presence in 
automotive, industrial and advanced packaging markets.

Technology Leadership

We compete largely by offering our customers among the most advanced equipment and expendable tools available for the wire 
and wedge bonding processes. Our equipment is typically the most productive and has the highest levels of process capability, 
and as a result, we believe it has a lower cost of ownership compared to other equipment in its market. Our expendable tools are 
designed to optimize the performance of the equipment in which they are used. We believe our technology leadership contributes 
to the strong market positions of our ball bonder, wedge bonder and expendable tools products. To maintain our competitive 
advantage, we invest in product development activities designed to produce a stream of improvements to existing products and to 
deliver next-generation products. These investments often focus as much on improvements in the semiconductor assembly process 
as on specific pieces of assembly equipment or expendable tools. In order to generate these improvements, we often 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 

25

suppliers, we have developed a series of robust, high-yielding production processes, which have made copper wire 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 gold and copper ball bonders, 
which enables our customers to handle the leading technologies in terms of bond pad pitch, silicon with the latest node and complex 
wire bonding requirement.  We continue to see demand for our large bondable area (“LA”) configured machines. This LA option 
is now available on all of our Power Series (“PS”) models and allows our customers to gain added efficiencies and to reduce the 
cost of packaging. 

We also leverage the technology leadership of our equipment by optimizing our bonder platforms, and we deliver variants of our 
products to serve emerging high-growth markets. For example, we have developed extensions of our main ball bonding platforms 
to address opportunities in LED assembly, in particular for general lighting. We expect the next wave of growth in the LED market 
to be high brightness LED for general lighting. We also believe there is an opportunity for growth in wire bonding sales at wafer 
level using our AT Premier PLUS.  

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, superior indexing accuracy and teach 
mode. We have also completed the design and development of our next generation hybrid wedge bonder, Asterion, which was 
launched in March 2015. 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 in maintaining our leadership position in 
the wedge bonding market and increase synergies between the various engineering product groups. Furthermore, we continually 
research adjacent market segments where our technologies could be used. Many of these initiatives are in the early stages of 
development and some have yielded results.

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, 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 
best-in-class  throughput  and  accuracy.  This  forms  the  foundation  for  our  advanced  packaging  equipment  development.  We 
established a dedicated team to develop and manufacture advanced packaging bonders 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 anticipated to be earlier adopters of this new packaging technology. 

With the acquisition of Assembléon, we broadened our advanced packaging solutions for mass reflow ("APMR") to include flip 
chip, wafer level packaging ("WLP"), fan-out wafer level packaging ("FOWLP"), advanced package-on-package, embedded die, 
and System-in-Package ("SiP"). The acquisition has enabled us to diversify our business into the automotive, medical and industrial 
markets with advanced surface-mount technology ("SMT") pick and place solutions.

We bring the same technology focus to our expendable 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, expendable 
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.

26

Products and Services

We supply a range of bonding equipment and expendable tools. The following tables reflect net revenue by business segment for 
fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

(dollar amounts in thousands) Net revenues
472,002
Equipment
64,469
Expendable Tools
536,471

$

$

% of total
net revenue

Net revenues
503,049
65,520
568,569

88.0% $
12.0%
100.0% $

% of total
net revenue

Net revenues
472,567
62,371
534,938

88.5% $
11.5%
100.0% $

% of total
net revenue

88.3%
11.7%
100.0%

See Note 14 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report for our financial results by business segment.

Equipment Segment

We manufacture and sell a line of ball bonders, wafer level bonders and heavy wire wedge bonders that are sold to semiconductor 
device manufacturers, OSATs, other electronics manufacturers and automotive electronics suppliers. Ball bonders are used to 
connect very fine wires, typically made of gold or copper, between the bond pads of the semiconductor device, or die, and the 
leads on its package. Wafer level bonders mechanically apply bumps to die, typically while still in the wafer format, for some 
variants of the flip chip assembly process. Heavy wire wedge bonders use either aluminum wire or ribbon to perform the same 
function in packages that cannot use gold or copper wire because of either high electrical current requirements or other package 
reliability  issues.  We  believe  our  equipment  offers  competitive  advantages  by  providing  customers  with  high  productivity/
throughput, superior package quality/process control, and, as a result, a lower cost of ownership. 

27

 
 
 
Our principal Equipment segment products include:

Business Unit

Product Name (1)

Typical Served Market

Ball bonders

IConnPS PLUS

Advanced and ultra fine pitch applications

IConnPS PLUS LA

Large area substrate and matrix applications

IConnPS PLUS ELA

Extended large area substrate and matrix applications

IConnPS ProCu

High-end copper wire applications demanding advanced process
capability and high productivity

IConnPS ProCu PLUS

High-end copper wire applications demanding advanced process
capability and high productivity

IConnPS ProCu LA

Large area substrate and matrix applications for copper wire

IConnPS ProCu PLUS LA

Large area substrate and matrix applications for copper wire

IConnPS ProCu PLUS ELA Extended large area substrate and matrix applications for copper wire

ConnXPS PLUS

High productivity bonder for low-to-medium pin count applications

ConnXPS LED

LED applications

ConnXPS LED PLUS

LED applications

ConnXPS PLUS LA

Cost performance large area substrate and matrix applications

ConnXPS PLUS ELA

Cost performance extended large area substrate and matrix applications

AT Premier PLUS

Advanced wafer level bonding application

Wedge bonders

3600PLUS

Power hybrid and automotive modules using either heavy aluminum
wire or PowerRibbon®

3700PLUS

7200PLUS

7200HD

Hybrid and automotive modules using thin aluminum wire

Power semiconductors using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

Smaller power packages using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

PowerFusionPS  TL

Power semiconductors using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

PowerFusionPS  HL

Smaller power packages using either aluminum wire or PowerRibbon®

AsterionTM

Power hybrid and automotive modules with extended area using heavy
and thin aluminum

 (1) Power Series (“PS”)

28

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Business Unit

Product Name (1)

Typical Served Market

Advanced Packaging
and Surface Mount
Technology (SMT)

APAMA C2S

Thermo-compression for chip-to-substrate, chip-to-chip and high
accuracy flip chip ("HA FC") bonding applications

APAMA C2W

Hybrid Series

iX Series

iFlex Series

Thermo-compression for chip-to-wafer, high accuracy flip chip ("HA
FC") and high density fan-out wafer level packaging ("HD FOWLP")
bonding applications

Advanced packages assembly applications requiring high throughput
such as flip chip, wafer level packaging ("WLP"), fan-out WLP
("FOWLP"), embedded die, system-in-package ("SiP"), package-on-
package ("POP"), and modules

Advanced Surface Mount Technology ("SMT") applications requiring
extremely high output of passive and active components

Advanced SMT applications requiring multi-lane or line balancing
solutions for standard or oddform passive and active components

Ball Bonders

Automatic ball bonders represent the largest portion of our semiconductor equipment business. Our main product platform for 
ball bonding is the Power Series - a family of assembly equipment that is setting new standards for performance, productivity, 
upgradeability, and ease of use. 

 Our portfolio of ball bonding products includes:

•  The IConnPS PLUS: high-performance ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper wire.
•  The IConnPS PLUS LA: high-performance large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper wire.
•  The IConnPS PLUS ELA: high-performance extended large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or 

copper wire.

•  The ConnXPS PLUS: cost-performance ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper wire.
•  The ConnXPS PLUS LA: cost-performance large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or copper 

wire.

•  The ConnXPS PLUS ELA: cost-performance extended large area ball bonders which can be configured for either gold or 

copper wire.

•  The ConnXPS LED and ConnXPS LED PLUS:  ball bonders targeted specifically at the fast growing LED market.
•  The IConnPS ProCu and IConnPS ProCu PLUS: high-performance copper wire ball bonders for advanced wafer nodes at 

28 nanometer and below.

•  The IConnPS ProCu LA and IConnPS ProCu PLUS LA: high-performance large area copper wire ball bonders for advanced 

wafer nodes at 28 nanometer and below.

•  The IConnPS ProCu PLUS ELA: high-performance extended large area copper wire ball bonders for advanced wafer 

nodes at 28 nanometer and below.

•  The AT Premier PLUS: ball bonders which utilize a modified wire bonding process to mechanically place bumps on 
devices, while still in a wafer format for variants of the flip chip assembly process. Typical applications include CMOS 
image sensors, SAW filters, MEMS and high brightness LEDs. These applications are commonly used in most, if not all, 
smartphones available today in the market.

Our Power Series products are setting new standards in wire bonding. Our ball bonders are capable of performing very fine pitch 
bonding, as well as creating the complex loop shapes needed in the assembly of advanced semiconductor packages and bonding 
on the latest silicon node-28 nanometer. Most of our installed base of gold wire bonders can also be retrofitted for copper applications 
through kits we sell separately. 

29

 
 
 
Heavy Wire Wedge Bonders

We are the leaders in the design and manufacture of heavy wire wedge bonders for the power semiconductor and automotive power 
module markets. Heavy wire wedge bonders may use either aluminum wire or aluminum ribbon to connect semiconductor chips 
in power packages, power hybrids and automotive modules for products such as motor control modules or inverters for hybrid 
cars. In addition, we see some potential use for our wedge bonder products in high reliability interconnections of rechargeable 
batteries in hybrid and electric automotive applications.

Our portfolio of wedge bonding products includes:

•  The 3600PLUS:  high speed, high accuracy wire bonders designed for power modules, automotive packages and other 

heavy wire multi-chip module applications.

•  The 3700PLUS: wire bonders designed for hybrid and automotive modules using thin aluminum wire.
•  The 7200PLUS:  dual head wedge bonders designed specifically for power semiconductor applications.
•  The 7200HD:  heavy wire wedge bonders designed for smaller power packages using either aluminum wire or ribbon.
•  The PowerFusionPS Semiconductor Wedge Bonders - Configurable in single, dual and multi-head configurations using 

aluminum wire and PowerRibbonTM: 

The PowerFusionPS TL: designed for low-cost, high volume power semiconductor applications. 
The PowerFusionPS HL and PowerFusionPS HLx: designed for advanced power semiconductor applications.

•  The AsterionTM:  latest generation hybrid wedge bonder. Larger area, higher speed and accuracy wedge bonders for power 

modules, automotive packages, battery applications and other aluminium wedge interconnect applications.

While wedge bonding traditionally utilizes aluminum wire, all of our heavy wire wedge bonders may be modified to bond aluminum 
ribbon  using  our  proprietary  PowerRibbon®  process. Aluminum  ribbon  offers  device  makers  performance  advantages  over 
traditional round wire and is being increasingly used for high current packages and automotive applications. 

Our PowerFusionPS series are driven by new powerful direct-drive motion systems and expanded pattern recognition capabilities. 
The advanced interconnect capabilities of PowerFusionPS  improves the processing of high-density power packages, due to an 
expanded bondable area, wider leadframe capability, superior indexing accuracy and teach mode.

In March 2015, we introduced AsterionTM, a hybrid wedge bonder that has the capabilities to handle a multitude of interconnect 
materials including large and small aluminum, copper wire, PowerRibbon®, as well as aluminum copper-clad ribbon.    

Advanced Packaging and Surface Mount Technology 

Our APAMA (Advanced Packaging with Adaptive Machine Analytics) C2S (chip-to-substrate) bonder is designed for high accuracy 
and high throughput flip chip, thermo-compression bonding applications. It delivers die-stacking solutions for 2.5D and 3D or 
through silicon via ("TSV") ICs.

In  September  2015,  we  introduced  the APAMA  Chip-to-Wafer  (“C2W”)  bonder.  The  C2W  system  enables APAMA's  high 
throughput architecture to be applied to 2.5D and 3D packages using silicon or glass interposers. The C2W dual head system also 
provides a highly adaptable manufacturing platform addressing applications, which require highly accurate die placement such as 
High Density FOWLP. The C2W platform, combined with the capacity of the C2S platform, enables the APAMA TCB systems 
to support assembly for the full range of stacked TSV products.

With the acquisition of Assembléon, we have broadened our product offering with APMR solutions to address flip chip, WLP, 
FOWLP, POP, embedded die, SiP and modules markets. The acquisition also enables us to diversify our business while further 
expanding market reach into the automotive, medical and industrial segments with SMT pick and place solutions.

Other Equipment Products and Services

We also sell manual wire bonders, and we offer spare parts, equipment repair, maintenance and servicing, training services, and 
upgrades for our equipment through our Support Services business unit.  

Our K&S Care service is designed to help customers operate their machines at an optimum level under the care of our trained 
specialists. K&S Care includes a range of programs, offering different levels of service depending on customer needs.

30

Expendable Tools Segment

We manufacture and sell a variety of expendable tools for a broad range of semiconductor packaging applications. Our principal 
Expendable Tools segment products include:

•  Capillaries:  expendable tools used in ball bonders. Made of ceramic and other materials, a capillary guides the wire during 
the ball bonding process. Its features help control the bonding process. We design and build capillaries suitable for a broad 
range of applications, including for use on our competitors' equipment. In addition to capillaries used for gold wire bonding, 
we have developed capillaries for use with copper wire to achieve optimal performance in copper wire bonding. In January 
2015, we introduced QuantisTM QFN Capillary, our latest copper wire bonding capillary designed for QFN (Quad Flat No-
lead) application. 

•  Dicing blades:  expendable tools used by semiconductor manufacturers to cut silicon wafers into individual semiconductor 

die or to cut packaged semiconductor units into individual units.

•  Bonding wedges:  expendable tools used in heavy wire wedge bonders. Heavy wire wedge tools are used for both wire 

and ribbon applications.

Critical Accounting Policies

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, valuation allowances for deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities, repatriation of un-
remitted foreign subsidiary earnings, 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. 605, Revenue Recognition, we recognize revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, 
delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the price is fixed or determinable, the collectability is reasonably assured, 
and customer acceptance, when applicable, has been received or we otherwise have been released from customer acceptance 
obligations.  If  terms  of  the  sale  provide  for  a  customer  acceptance  period,  revenue  is  recognized  upon  the  expiration  of  the 
acceptance  period  or  customer  acceptance,  whichever  occurs  first.  Our  standard  terms  are  ex  works  (our  factory),  with  title 
transferring to our customer at our loading dock or upon embarkation. We have a small percentage of sales with other terms, and 
revenue is recognized in accordance with the terms of the related customer purchase order. 

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 machines 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  our  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.

•  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 typically consists of installation and testing, is received from the customer.

31

Shipping and handling costs billed to customers are recognized in net revenue. Shipping and handling costs paid by us 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 market 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 expendable 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 market 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. 

The inventory reserve provision for Assembléon is determined based on our best estimate of future consumption for equipment 
and spare parts. This estimate is based on historical sales volumes, internal projections and market developments and trends. 

Accounting for Impairment of Goodwill

The Company operates two reportable segments: Equipment and Expendable Tools. Goodwill was recorded for the acquisitions 
of Orthodyne Electronics Corporation ("Orthodyne") and Assembléon in 2009 and 2015, respectively. 

Accounting Standard Update 2011-08, Testing Goodwill for Impairment (“ASU 2011-08”),provides companies with the option to 
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 two-step impairment test is unnecessary. However, if a company 
concludes otherwise, then it is required to perform the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test. If the carrying value of 
a reporting unit exceeds its fair value in the first step of the test, then a company is required to perform the second step of the 
goodwill impairment test to measure the amount of the reporting unit's goodwill impairment loss, if any.  

In fiscal 2015, we chose to bypass the qualitative assessment and proceed directly to performing the quantitative evaluation of the 
fair value of the reporting unit, to compare against the carrying value of the reporting unit.

As part of our annual evaluation of the goodwill, we perform an impairment test of our goodwill in the fourth quarter of each fiscal 
year to coincide with the completion of our annual forecasting and refreshing of our business outlook processes. On an ongoing 
basis, we monitor whether 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.  During the year ended October 3, 
2015, no triggering events occurred.   

Impairment assessments inherently involve judgment as to 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 our assumptions as to prices, 
costs, growth rates or other factors that may result in changes in our estimates of future cash flows. Although we believe the 
assumptions we have used in testing for impairment are reasonable, significant changes in any one of our assumptions could 
produce a significantly different result. Indicators of potential impairment may lead us to perform interim goodwill impairment 
assessments, 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. 

For further information on goodwill and other intangible assets, see Note 5 to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in 
Item 8.

32

Income Taxes

In accordance with ASC No. 740, Income Taxes, deferred income taxes are determined using the liability method.  We record a 
valuation allowance to reduce our deferred tax assets to the amount we expect is more likely than not to be realized. While we 
have considered future taxable income and our ongoing tax planning strategies in assessing the need for the valuation allowance, 
if we were to determine that we would be able to realize our deferred tax assets in the future in excess of our net recorded amount, 
an adjustment to the deferred tax asset would increase income in the period such determination was made. Likewise, should we 
determine that we would not be able to realize all or part of our net deferred tax assets in the future, an adjustment to the deferred 
tax asset would decrease income in the period such determination was made.

In accordance with ASC No. 740 Topic 10, Income Taxes, General (“ASC 740.10”), we account for uncertain tax positions taken 
or expected to be taken in the Company's income tax return.  Under ASC 740.10, we utilize a two-step approach for evaluating 
uncertain tax positions. Step one, or recognition, requires us to determine if the weight of available evidence indicates a tax 
position is more likely than not to be sustained upon audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. 
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.

Equity-Based Compensation

We account 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 equity-based compensation in net income. Compensation expense 
associated with market-based restricted stock is determined using a Monte-Carlo valuation model, and compensation expense 
associated with time-based and performance-based restricted stock is determined based on the number of shares granted and the 
fair value on the date of grant. The fair value of our stock option awards are estimated using a Black-Scholes option valuation 
model.

The calculation of equity-based compensation costs requires us to estimate the number of awards that will be forfeited during the 
vesting period. We have estimated forfeitures at the time of grant based upon historical experience, and review the forfeiture rates 
periodically and make adjustments as necessary. In addition, the fair value of equity-based awards is amortized over the vesting 
period of the award and we have elected to use the straight-line method for awards granted after the adoption of ASC 718. In 
general, equity-based awards vest annually over a three year period. Our performance-based restricted stock entitles the employee 
to receive common shares of the Company on the three-year anniversary of the grant date (if employed by the Company) if return 
on invested capital and revenue growth targets set by the Management Development and Compensation Committee of the Board 
of Directors on the date of grant are met. If return on invested capital and revenue growth targets are not met, performance-based 
restricted  stock  does  not  vest.  Estimated  attainment  percentages  and  the  corresponding  equity-based  compensation  expense 
reported may vary from period to period. 

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.

33

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Results of Operations for fiscal 2015 and 2014

The following table reflects our income from operations for fiscal 2015 and 2014:

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Net revenue
Cost of sales
Gross profit

Selling, general and administrative
Research and development
Operating expenses

Fiscal

2015

2014

$ Change

% Change

$

$

536,471
277,379
259,092

$

568,569
295,015
273,554

131,808
90,033
221,841

113,514
83,056
196,570

(32,098)
(17,636)
(14,462)

18,294
6,977
25,271

(5.6)%
(6.0)%
(5.3)%

16.1 %
8.4 %
12.9 %

Income from operations

$

37,251

$

76,984

$

(39,733)

(51.6)%

Bookings and Backlog

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 non-GAAP financial 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. 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 tables reflect our bookings and backlog for fiscal 2015 and 2014:

(in thousands)
Bookings

(in thousands)
Backlog

Fiscal

2015

2014

491,427

$

595,565

As of

October 3, 2015
52,500

September 27, 2014
79,100
$

$

$

Our net revenues for fiscal 2015 have decreased as compared to our net revenues for fiscal 2014 due to reduced customer demand. 
The semiconductor industry is volatile and our operating results have fluctuated significantly in the past. Customer demand for 
our products could continue to remain weak and lead to a decline in our net revenues.

Net Revenue

Approximately 91.2% and 94.4% of our net revenue for fiscal 2015 and 2014, respectively, was for shipments to customer locations 
outside of the U.S., primarily in the Asia/Pacific region, and we expect sales outside of the U.S. to continue to represent the majority 
of our future revenue.

34

The following table reflects net revenue by business segment for fiscal 2015 and 2014:                 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Equipment
Expendable Tools
Total net revenue

Equipment

Fiscal

2015

2014

$ Change

% Change

$

$

472,002
64,469
536,471

$

$

503,049
65,520
568,569

$

$

(31,047)
(1,051)
(32,098)

(6.2)%
(1.6)%
(5.6)%

The following table reflects the components of Equipment net revenue change between fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

(in thousands)
Equipment

Price

Fiscal 2015 vs. 2014
Volume

$ Change

$

2,341

$

(33,388) $

(31,047)

For fiscal 2015, the lower Equipment net revenue as compared to fiscal 2014 was primarily due to lower volume of our ball bonders 
sales. This was partially offset by higher volume in our wedge bonders and our new APMR and SMT products. The lower volume 
for  ball  bonders  sales  was  mainly  attributable  to  the  lower  equipment  utilization  rate,  and  therefore  lower  demand  from  our 
customers. The lower volume was partially offset by the better pricing due to favorable customer mix.    

Expendable Tools

The following table reflects the components of Expendable Tools net revenue change between fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

(in thousands)
Expendable Tools

Price

Fiscal 2015 vs. 2014
Volume

$ Change

$

(538) $

(513) $

(1,051)

For fiscal 2015, the lower Expendable Tools net revenue as compared to fiscal 2014 was primarily due to lower volume in wedge 
bonding tools business and a price reduction in our wire bonding tools business.  

Gross Profit

The following table reflects gross profit by business segment for fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Equipment
Expendable Tools
Total gross profit

Fiscal

2015

2014

$ Change

% Change

$

$

221,961
37,131
259,092

$

$

234,115
39,439
273,554

$

$

(12,154)
(2,308)
(14,462)

(5.2)%
(5.9)%
(5.3)%

The following table reflects gross profit as a percentage of net revenue by business segment for fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

Equipment
Expendable Tools
Total gross margin

Equipment

Fiscal

2015

2014

Basis Point
Change

47.0%
57.6%
48.3%

46.5%
60.2%
48.1%

50
(260)
20

The following table reflects the components of Equipment gross profit change between fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

(in thousands)
Equipment

Price

Fiscal 2015 vs. 2014
Cost

Volume

$ Change

$

2,341

$

(1,825) $

(12,670) $

(12,154)

35

 
 
 
 
 
 
For fiscal 2015, the lower Equipment gross profit  as compared to fiscal 2014 was primarily due to the lower volume of equipment 
sales and higher costs. The lower volume was mainly due to lower sales of ball bonders offset by higher volume in our wedge 
bonders and our new APMR and SMT products. The lower volume in ball bonders was attributable to the lower equipment utilization 
rate, and therefore lower demand from our customers. The higher costs were due to changes in the product mix on our ball bonders. 
The lower volume and higher costs were partially offset by better pricing due to favorable customer mix.

Expendable Tools

The following table reflects the components of Expendable Tools gross profit change between fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

(in thousands)
Expendable Tools

Price

Fiscal 2015 vs. 2014
Cost

Volume

$ Change

$

(538) $

(682) $

(1,088) $

(2,308)

For fiscal 2015, the lower Expendable Tools gross profit  as compared to fiscal 2014 was primarily due to lower volume from our 
wedge bonding business. 

Operating Expenses

The following table reflects operating expenses as a percentage of net revenue for fiscal 2015 and 2014:

Selling, general & administrative
Research & development
Total

Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”)

Fiscal

2015

2014

Basis point
change

24.6%
16.8%
41.4%

20.0%
14.6%
34.6%

460
220
680

For fiscal 2015, higher SG&A as compared to fiscal 2014 was primarily due to additional SG&A expenses of $24.6 million from 
our new APMR and SMT products and net unfavorable $0.5 million of restructuring cost and other severance expenses. This was 
partially offset by a decrease in incentive compensation of $6.8 million as a result of lower current fiscal year profit. 

Research and Development (“R&D”)

For fiscal 2015, higher R&D expenses as compared to fiscal 2014 was primarily due to additional investment in the development 
of advanced packaging products. 

Income from Operations

For fiscal 2015, total income from operations was lower by $39.7 million as compared to fiscal 2014. This was due primarily to 
lower revenue for equipment sales and higher operating expenses as explained above.

Interest Income and Expense

The following table reflects interest income and interest expense for fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Interest income
Interest expense

Fiscal

2015

2014

$ Change

% Change

$
$

1,637
$
(1,183) $

1,197
$
(1,048) $

440
(135)

36.8%
12.9%

Interest income in fiscal 2015 was derived from short term investments and cash and cash equivalents balance.

The higher interest expense for fiscal 2015 was attributable to the interest on financing obligation relating to the new building, 
which was incurred subsequent to the completion of the new building in December 2013 (Refer to Note 9 of our Consolidated 
Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this report).

36

 
Provision for Income Taxes

The following table reflects the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate for fiscal 2015 and 2014: 

(in thousands)

Income from operations before income taxes

Provision for income taxes

Net income

Effective tax rate

Fiscal

2015

37,705

(12,934)

50,639

$

$

$

$

2014

77,133

14,145

62,988

(34.3)%

18.3%

For fiscal 2015, the effective income tax rate decreased from fiscal 2014 by 52.6% due primarily to a net $19.7 million decrease 
of deferred tax liabilities on certain unremitted foreign earnings as a result of the change in permanent reinvestment assertion, and 
$4.0 million tax benefits from research and development expenditures, offset by lower profits in foreign jurisdictions and an 
increase in valuation allowance against certain foreign deferred tax assets.

For fiscal 2014, the effective income tax rate differed from the federal statutory rate due primarily to a shift in earnings to tax 
jurisdictions with higher effective tax rates than the U.S. statutory rate and the impact of tax holidays, offset by an increase in 
deferred tax liabilities on unremitted earnings and additional domestic and foreign expenses or benefits related to returns filed in 
the period.

Our future effective tax rate would be affected if earnings were lower than anticipated in countries where we are subjected to lower 
statutory rates and higher than anticipated in countries where we are subjected to higher statutory rates, by changes in the valuation 
of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, or by changes in tax laws, regulations, accounting principles, or interpretations thereof. 
In addition, changes in assertion for foreign earnings permanently or non-permanently reinvested as a result of changes in facts 
and  circumstances  could  significantly  impact  the  effective  tax  rate.  During  the  year  ended  October  3,  2015,  the  Company  is 
executing a business structure reorganization resulting in a change in its permanent reinvestment assertion outside the United 
States. Approximately $19.7 million of deferred tax liability was reversed and recorded as a tax benefit. We regularly assess the 
effects resulting from these factors to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes.

It is reasonably possible that the amount of the unrecognized tax benefit with respect to certain unrecognized tax positions will 
increase  or  decrease  during  the  next  12  months  due  to  the  expected  lapse  of  statutes  of  limitation  and/or  settlements  of  tax 
examinations. We cannot practicably estimate the financial outcomes of these examinations.

37

 
Results of Operations for fiscal 2014 and 2013

The following table reflects our income from operations for fiscal 2014 and 2013:

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Net revenue
Cost of sales
Gross profit

Selling, general and administrative
Research and development
Operating expenses

Fiscal

2014

2013

$ Change

% Change

$

$

568,569
295,015
273,554

$

534,938
287,993
246,945

113,514
83,056
196,570

119,519
61,620
181,139

33,631
7,022
26,609

(6,005)
21,436
15,431

6.3 %
2.4 %
10.8 %

(5.0)%
34.8 %
8.5 %

Income from operations

$

76,984

$

65,806

$

11,178

17.0 %

Bookings and Backlog

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. 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 tables reflect our bookings and backlog for fiscal 2014 and 2013:

(in thousands)
Bookings

(in thousands)
Backlog

Net Revenue

Fiscal

2014

2013

$

595,565

$

497,335

As of

September 27, 2014
79,100
$

September 28, 2013
52,100
$

Approximately 94.4% and 97.3% of our net revenue for fiscal 2014 and 2013, respectively, was for shipments to customer locations 
outside of the U.S., primarily in the Asia/Pacific region, and we expect sales outside of the U.S. to continue to represent a substantial 
majority of our future revenue.

The following table reflects net revenue by business segment for fiscal 2014 and 2013:                 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Equipment
Expendable Tools
Total net revenue

Fiscal

2014

2013

$ Change

% Change

$

$

503,049
65,520
568,569

$

472,567
62,371
534,938

$

$

30,482
3,149
33,631

6.5%
5.0%
6.3%

38

 
Equipment

The following table reflects the components of Equipment net revenue change between fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Equipment

Price

Fiscal 2014 vs. 2013
Volume

$ Change

$

9,224

$

21,258

$

30,482

For fiscal 2014, the higher Equipment net revenue as compared to fiscal 2013 was primarily due to the higher volume of both ball 
bonder and wedge bonder sales and a favorable product mix. The higher volume on ball bonders was driven primarily by higher 
demand for mobile devices. The higher volume on wedge bonders was driven primarily by sales of the new product family which 
was introduced in the third quarter of fiscal 2013. 

Expendable Tools

The following table reflects the components of Expendable Tools net revenue change between fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Expendable Tools

Price

Fiscal 2014 vs. 2013
Volume

$ Change

$

(1,017) $

4,166

$

3,149

For fiscal 2014, the higher Expendable Tools net revenue as compared to fiscal 2013 was primarily due to higher volume. This 
was partially offset by price reduction in wire bonding tools business and wedge bonder tools business. The price reduction in 
wedge bonder tools business was primarily due to an adjustment of the pricing discounts given to certain distributors, which 
resulted in the decrease in the selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expense and the revenue in our wedge bonder tools 
business, partially offset by favorable product mix.    

Gross Profit

The following table reflects gross profit by business segment for fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Equipment
Expendable Tools
Total gross profit

Fiscal

2014

2013

$ Change

% Change

$

$

234,115
39,439
273,554

$

$

211,297
35,648
246,945

$

$

22,818
3,791
26,609

10.8%
10.6%
10.8%

The following table reflects gross profit as a percentage of net revenue by business segment for fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

Equipment
Expendable Tools
Total gross margin

 Equipment

Fiscal

2014

2013

Basis Point
Change

46.5%
60.2%
48.1%

44.7%
57.2%
46.2%

180
300
190

The following table reflects the components of Equipment gross profit change between fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Equipment

Price

Fiscal 2014 vs. 2013
Cost

Volume

$ Change

$

9,224

$

(5,062) $

18,656

$

22,818

For fiscal 2014, the higher Equipment gross profit  as compared to fiscal 2013 was primarily due to the higher volume of both ball 
bonder and wedge bonder sales and a favorable product mix as described above. This was partially offset by higher production 
costs for our ball bonders and wedge bonders, which was primarily due to product mix.

39

 
 
 
 
 
 
Expendable Tools

The following table reflects the components of Expendable Tools gross profit change between fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Expendable Tools

Price

Fiscal 2014 vs. 2013
Cost

Volume

$

(1,017) $

2,333

$

2,475

$

$ Change

3,791  

For fiscal 2014, the higher Expendable Tools gross profit  as compared to fiscal 2013 was primarily due to the higher volume and 
lower cost. This was partially offset by price reduction in wire bonding tools business and wedge bonder tools business. The price 
reduction in wedge bonder tools business was primarily due to an adjustment of the pricing discounts given to certain distributors, 
which resulted in the decrease in the SG&A expense and the revenue in our wedge bonder tools business, partially offset by 
favorable product mix.

Operating Expenses

The following table reflects operating expenses as a percentage of net revenue for fiscal 2014 and 2013:

Selling, general & administrative
Research & development
Total

 Selling, General and Administrative (“SG&A”)

Fiscal

2014

2013

Basis point
change

20.0%
14.6%
34.6%

22.3%
11.5%
33.8%

(230)
310
80

SG&A expense decreased $6.0 million during fiscal 2014 as compared to fiscal 2013 primarily due to a decrease in amortization 
expenses of $3.9 million as the intangible assets relating to the Orthodyne customer relationships have been fully amortized, net 
favorable  variance  of  $2.8  million  in  foreign  exchange  rates  due  to  strengthening  of  the  U.S  dollar  against  foreign  currency 
denominated liabilities which increased in the current period, and net impact of adjustment of the pricing discounts given to certain 
distributors of $1.5 million that resulted in a decrease in the SG&A expense and  revenue. These decreases were partially offset 
by a gain of $2.1 million related to the curtailment of our Swiss pension plan in fiscal 2013.

Research and Development (“R&D”)

R&D expense increased $21.4 million during fiscal 2014 as compared to fiscal 2013, during which we recognized a Research 
Incentive Scheme for Companies grant of $0.7 million. In fiscal 2014, we invested an additional $20.7 million of materials and 
other expenses in the development of new products. 

Income from Operations

For fiscal 2014, total income from operations was higher by $11.2 million. This was due primarily to higher revenue and margin 
for equipment sales as explained above.

Interest Income and Expense

The following table reflects interest income and interest expense for fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Interest income
Interest expense: cash

Fiscal

2014

2013

$ Change

% Change

$
$

1,197
$
(1,048) $

883
$
(21) $

314
(1,027)

35.6%
100.0%

Interest  income  in  fiscal  2014  was  higher  as  compared  to  fiscal  2013  due  to  higher  interest  income  derived  from  short  term 
investments and a larger cash and cash equivalents balance.

The higher interest expense for fiscal 2014 was attributable to the interest on financing obligation relating to the new building.

40

 
 
Provision for Income Taxes

The following table reflects the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate for fiscal 2014 and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Income from operations before income taxes
Provision for income taxes
Net income

Effective tax rate

Fiscal

2014

2013

$

$

77,133
14,145
62,988

$

$

66,668
7,310
59,358

18.3%

11.0%

For  fiscal  2014,  the  effective  income  tax  rate  increased  from  fiscal  2013  by  7.3%  due  primarily  to  a  shift  in  earnings  to  tax 
jurisdictions with higher effective tax rates, certain changes in estimates that were recorded upon filing tax returns in foreign 
jurisdictions and the release of a reserve in fiscal 2013.

For fiscal 2013, the effective income tax rate differed from the federal statutory rate due primarily to tax from foreign operations 
at a lower effective tax rate than the U.S. statutory rate and the impact of tax holidays, release of tax reserves, offset by an increase 
for deferred taxes on un-remitted earnings as well as other U.S. current and deferred taxes. 

41

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

The following table reflects total cash and investments as of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014:

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents
Percentage of total assets

As of

October 3, 2015
498,614

$

September 27, 2014
587,981
$

Change

$

(89,367)

55.1%

62.3%

The following table reflects summary Consolidated Statement of Cash Flow information for fiscal 2015 and 2014:

(in thousands)
Net cash provided by operating activities
Net cash used in investing activities
Net cash used in financing activities
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
Changes in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period
Short-term investments

Total cash and investments

Fiscal 2015 

Fiscal

2015

2014

$

$

87,875
(94,109)
(84,459)
1,326
(89,367)
587,981
498,614
—
498,614

$

$

82,460
(15,974)
(164)
(129)
66,193
521,788
587,981
9,105
597,086

Net cash provided by operating activities was primarily the result of net income of $50.6 million, non-cash adjustments of $11.4 
million and working capital changes of $25.8 million. The change in working capital was primarily driven by a decrease in accounts 
receivable of $72.3 million. This was partially offset by decreases in accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current 
liabilities of $32.8 million and an increase in inventories of $14.5 million.

The lower revenues in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 as compared to fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 resulted in a reduction of 
accounts receivable and lower accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities. The increase in inventories was 
due to higher inventories held at year-end in anticipation of a scheduled scale down of manufacturing activity in the first quarter 
of fiscal 2016 and the lower revenues in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 as compared to fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

Net cash used in investing activities was primarily due to net cash outflow for the Assembléon acquisition of $93.2 million, purchase 
of short-term investments of $1.6 million and capital expenditures of $10.3 million. This was offset by the maturity of short-term 
investments of $10.8 million and proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment of $0.2 million. 

Net cash used in financing relates to the repurchase of common stock of $75.7 million and repayment of loans of $10.8 million 
related to the acquired business. This was offset by proceeds from the short term loans of $0.8 million and proceeds from the 
exercise of stock options of $0.7 million.

Fiscal 2014 

Net cash provided by operating activities was primarily the result of net income of $63.0 million, non-cash adjustments of $33.6 
million and offset by the working capital changes of $14.1 million. The change in working capital was primarily driven by an 
increase in inventories of $14.6 million and an increase in accounts receivable of $9.3 million. This was partially offset by a 
decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $8.9 million and a decrease in accounts payable of $1.0 million.

The increase in inventories was due to higher inventories held at year-end in anticipation of a scheduled scale down of manufacturing 
activity in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. The higher accounts receivable was due to higher sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 
2014. The reduction in prepaid expenses and other current assets was due to net refunds of a $2.7 million deposit in relation to the 
Agreement to Develop and Lease (the “ADL”) following the execution of the Lease Agreement, and a reduction of $6.3 million 
due to tax refunds. 

Net cash used in investing activities was primarily the purchase of short-term investments of $18.2 million and capital expenditures 
of $10.1 million offset by the maturity of short-term investments of $12.4 million. 

42

 
 
Net cash used in financing activities was primarily the reversal of excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation arrangements 
of $0.8 million and the repurchase of common stock of $0.4 million offset by proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $1.0 
million.

Fiscal 2016 Liquidity and Capital Resource Outlook

We expect our fiscal 2016 capital expenditures to be between $10.0 and $11.0 million. Expenditures are anticipated to be primarily 
used for R&D projects, enhancements to our manufacturing operations in Asia and improvements to our information technology 
infrastructure.  

We believe that our existing cash and investments and anticipated cash flows from operations will be sufficient to meet our liquidity 
and capital requirements for at least the next twelve months. Our liquidity is affected by many factors, some based on normal 
operations of our business and others related to global economic conditions and industry uncertainties, 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.

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. 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, and the 
condition of financial markets.

In 2014, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a program to repurchase up to $100 million of the Company’s common 
stock on or before August 14, 2017. The Company has entered into a written trading plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act 
to facilitate repurchases under the repurchase program. The repurchase program is effective immediately, may be suspended or 
discontinued at any time and will be funded using the Company's available cash. 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 this program will depend on market conditions as well as corporate and regulatory considerations. 

During the year ended October 3, 2015, the Company repurchased a total of 6.4 million shares of common stock at a cost of $77.9 
million under the repurchase program. As of October 3, 2015, our remaining stock repurchase authorization under the repurchase 
program was approximately $21.5 million.

In January 2015, KSH, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, acquired Assembléon, a subsidiary of Assembléon Holding B.V., 
in an all cash transaction for approximately $97.4 million (EUR80 million). 

Other Obligations and Contingent Payments

In accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, certain obligations and commitments are not required to be 
included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and Statements of Operations. These obligations and commitments, while entered 
into in the normal course of business, may have a material impact on our liquidity. Certain of the following commitments as of 
October 3, 2015 are appropriately not included in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and Statements of Operations included in this 
Form 10-K; however, they have been disclosed in the table below for additional information.

43

The following table reflects obligations and contingent payments under various arrangements as of October 3, 2015: 

(in thousands)
Current and long-term liabilities:
Pension plan obligations
Severance (1)
Operating lease retirement obligations
Long-term income taxes payable
Total Obligations and Contingent Payments reflected on
the Consolidated Financial Statements
Contractual Obligations:
Inventory purchase obligations (2)
Operating lease obligations (3)
Total Obligations and Contingent Payments not
reflected on the Consolidated Financial Statements

Payments due by fiscal period 

Total

Less than 1 
year

1 - 3 years

3 - 5 years

More than 
5 years

$

$

$

$

1,914
2,575
1,496
3,388

— $
—
74
—

— $
750
287
—

— $
—
—
—

1,914
1,825
1,135
3,388

9,373

$

74

80,600
30,195

80,600
4,874

$

$

1,037

$

— $

8,262

— $

— $

7,678

5,908

—
11,735

$ 110,795

$

85,474

$

7,678

$

5,908

$

11,735

(1)  In accordance with regulations in some of our foreign subsidiaries, we are required to provide for severance obligations 

that are payable when an employee leaves the Company.

(2)  We order inventory components in the normal course of our business. A portion of these orders are non-cancelable and 

a portion may have varying penalties and charges in the event of cancellation. 

(3)  We have minimum rental commitments under various leases (excluding taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs, which 
are also paid by us) primarily for various facility and equipment leases, which expire periodically through 2026 (not 
including lease extension options, if applicable).  

The annual rent and service charge for our corporate headquarters range from $4 million to $5 million Singapore dollars 
and is not included in the table above. 

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Credit facility and bank guarantee 

On November 22, 2013, the Company obtained a $5.0 million credit facility with Citibank in connection with the issuance of a 
bank guarantee of $3.4 million Singapore dollars in connection with the lease agreement for our corporate headquarters. The bank 
guarantee is effective from December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014. On November 19, 2014, the Company extended the expiration 
date of the bank guarantee to November 30, 2015 and increased the amount to $3.5 million Singapore dollars. As of October 3, 
2015, we did not have any other off-balance sheet arrangements, such as contingent interests or obligations associated with variable 
interest entities. 

44

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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. As of October 3, 2015, we had no available-
for-sale investments.

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, Malaysia, Singapore and Switzerland. 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 Netherlands, China, Taiwan, Japan and Germany. Our U.S. operations 
also have foreign currency exposure due to net monetary assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

Based on our foreign currency exposure as of October 3, 2015, a 10.0% fluctuation could impact our financial position, results of 
operations or cash flows by $3.0 to $4.0 million. We may enter into foreign exchange forward contracts and other instruments in 
the future; however, 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 had no foreign exchange forward contracts or other instruments as of October 3, 2015. 

45

Item 8.  FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

The consolidated financial statements of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. listed in the index appearing under Item 15 (a)(1) 
herein are filed as part of this Report under this Item 8.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm 

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc.:

In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and the related consolidated statement of operations, comprehensive 
income, changes in shareholders’ equity, and cash flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Kulicke 
& Soffa Industries, Inc. and its subsidiaries at October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014, and the results of their operations and 
their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended October 3, 2015 in conformity with accounting principles generally 
accepted in the United States of America.  In addition, in our opinion, the financial statement schedule listed in the index appearing 
under Item 15(a)(2) presents fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein when read in conjunction with the 
related consolidated financial statements.  Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal 
control over financial reporting as of October 3, 2015, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework 
(2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).  The Company's management 
is  responsible  for  these  financial  statements  and  financial  statement  schedule,  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 included under Item 9A of this report.  Our responsibility is to express opinions 
on these financial statements, on the financial statement schedule, and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting 
based on our integrated audits.  We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting 
Oversight Board (United States).  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about 
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting 
was maintained in all material respects.  Our audits of the financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence 
supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates 
made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.  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.

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 
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.

As  described  in  Management's  Report  on  Internal  Control  over  Financial  Reporting  included  under  Item  9A  of  this  report, 
management has excluded Assembléon B.V. and its subsidiaries from its assessment of internal control over financial reporting 
as of October 3, 2015 because it was acquired by the Company in a purchase business combination in January 2015.  We have 
also excluded Assembléon B.V. and its subsidiaries from our audit of internal control over financial reporting.  Assembléon B.V. 
and its subsidiaries are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company whose total assets and total revenues represent 4.9% and 11.0%, 
respectively, of the related consolidated financial statement amounts as of and for the year ended October 3, 2015.

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 
Singapore
November 18, 2015 

46

 KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)

As of

October 3, 2015 September 27, 2014

ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
Short-term investments
Accounts and notes receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $621 and
$143, respectively
Inventories, net
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
Deferred income taxes
Total current assets

Property, plant and equipment, net
Goodwill
Intangible assets, net
Other assets
TOTAL ASSETS

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
Income taxes payable
Total current liabilities

Financing obligation
Deferred income taxes
Other liabilities
TOTAL LIABILITIES

Commitments and contingent liabilities (Note 15)

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY:
Preferred stock, without par value:
Authorized 5,000 shares; issued - none
Common stock, no par value:
Authorized 200,000 shares; issued 82,643 and 81,624 respectively; outstanding
71,240 and 76,626 shares, respectively
Treasury stock, at cost, 11,403 and 4,998 shares, respectively
Retained earnings
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income
TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

498,614
—

$

108,596
79,096
16,937
4,126
707,369

53,234
81,272
57,471
5,120
904,466

25,521
45,971
2,442
73,934

16,483
31,316
10,842
132,575

$

$

$

587,981
9,105

171,530
49,694
15,090
4,291
837,691

52,755
41,546
5,891
6,565
944,448

35,132
43,731
2,488
81,351

19,102
44,963
9,790
155,206

— $

—

492,339
(124,856)
405,505
(1,097)
771,891

904,466

$

$

479,116
(46,984)
354,866
2,244
789,242

944,448

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)

Net revenue
Cost of sales
Gross profit
Selling, general and administrative
Research and development
Operating expenses
Income from operations
Interest income
Interest expense
Income from operations before income taxes
Income tax (benefit)/ expense
Net income

Net income per share:
Basic
Diluted

Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic
Diluted

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

$

$
$

536,471
277,379
259,092
131,808
90,033
221,841
37,251
1,637
(1,183)
37,705
(12,934)
50,639

0.67
0.67

$

$

$
$

568,569
295,015
273,554
113,514
83,056
196,570
76,984
1,197
(1,048)
77,133
14,145
62,988

0.82
0.81

$

$

$
$

534,938
287,993
246,945
119,519
61,620
181,139
65,806
883
(21)
66,668
7,310
59,358

0.79
0.78

75,414
75,659

76,396
77,292

75,132
76,190

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)

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

50,639

$

62,988

$

59,358

(3,360)

19

(983)

(391)

1,186

51

1,237

60,595

Net income

Other comprehensive income (loss):

Foreign currency translation adjustment

Unrecognized actuarial loss/ (gain), Switzerland pension plan, net of
tax

Total other comprehensive (loss)/ income

Comprehensive income

(3,341)
47,298

$

(1,374)
61,614

$

$

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

49

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 
(in thousands)

Balances as of September 29, 2012

Issuance of stock for services rendered

Exercise of stock options

Issuance of shares for market-based restricted stock
and time-based restricted stock

Excess tax benefits from stock based compensation

Equity-based compensation expense

Components of comprehensive income:

Net income

Translation adjustment

Unamortized pension costs

Total comprehensive income

Balances as of September 28, 2013

Issuance of stock for services rendered

Repurchase of common stock

Exercise of stock options

Issuance of shares for market-based restricted stock
and time-based restricted stock

Reversal of excess tax benefits from stock based
compensation

Equity-based compensation expense

Components of comprehensive income:

Net income

Translation adjustment

Unamortized pension costs

Total comprehensive income

Balances as of September 27, 2014

Issuance of stock for services rendered

Repurchase of common stock

Exercise of stock options

Issuance of shares for market-based restricted stock
and time-based restricted stock

Excess tax benefits from stock based compensation

Equity-based compensation expense

Components of comprehensive income:

Net income

Translation adjustment

Unamortized pension costs

Total comprehensive income

Balances as of October 3, 2015

 Common Stock

Shares

Amount

Treasury
Stock

Retained
earnings

Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income

Shareholders'
Equity

74,145

$

455,122

$

(46,356) $

232,520

$

2,381

$

643,667

74

101

963

—

—

—

—

—

—

840

908

—

825

9,830

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

59,358

—

—

59,358

—

—

—

—

—

—

1,186

51

1,237

840

908

—

825

9,830

59,358

1,186

51

60,595

75,283

$

467,525

$

(46,356) $

291,878

$

3,618

$

716,665

63

(43)

131

1,192

—

—

—

—

—

—

809

—

1,080

—

(825)

10,527

—

—

—

—

—

(628)

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

62,988

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

(983)

(391)

809

(628)

1,080

—

(825)

10,527

62,988

(983)

(391)

62,988

(1,374)

61,614

76,626

$

479,116

$

(46,984) $

354,866

$

2,244

$

789,242

83

(6,405)

75

861

—

—

—

—

—

—

1,049

—

694

—

540

10,940

—

—

—

—

—

(77,872)

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

50,639

—

—

50,639

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

(3,360)

19

(3,341)

1,049

(77,872)

694

—

540

10,940

50,639

(3,360)

19

47,298

71,240

$

492,339

$ (124,856) $

405,505

$

(1,097) $

771,891

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)

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net income
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization
Equity-based compensation and employee benefits
(Excess tax benefits from stock based compensation) Reversal of excess tax benefits
Adjustment for doubtful accounts
Adjustment for inventory valuation
Deferred taxes
Switzerland pension plan curtailment gain
(Gain) Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment
Asset retirement obligation
Unrealized foreign currency transactions
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of  assets and liabilities assumed in
businesses combinations:

Accounts and notes receivable
Inventory
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities
Income taxes payable
Other, net

Net cash provided by operating activities

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired
Purchases of property, plant and equipment
Proceeds from sales of property, plant and equipment
Purchase of short term investments
Maturity of short term investments

Net cash used in investing activities

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Payment on debts
Proceeds from short term loans
Proceeds from exercise of common stock options
Repurchase of common stock
Excess tax benefits from stock based compensation (Reversal of excess tax benefits)

Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

Changes in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

CASH PAID FOR:
Interest
Income taxes

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

50,639

$

62,988

$

59,358

18,972
11,989
(540)
478
3,978
(16,738)
—
(71)
—
(6,631)

72,304
(14,471)
493
(32,766)
(1,968)
2,207
87,875

(93,153)
(10,269)
180
(1,630)
10,763
(94,109)

13,520
11,336
825
320
3,060
4,494
(84)
90
—
(1,122)

(9,294)
(14,618)
8,866
(1,269)
1,030
2,318
82,460

—
(10,138)
44
(18,236)
12,356
(15,974)

18,489
10,670
(825)
371
3,561
5,901
(2,100)
(147)
(368)
620

26,408
17,056
(2,421)
(36,066)
(6,832)
1,149
94,824

—
(17,172)
5,310
(3,252)
—
(15,114)

(10,815)
837
694
(75,715)
540
(84,459)
1,326
(89,367)
587,981
$ 498,614

—
—
1,080
(419)
(825)
(164)
(129)
66,193
521,788
$ 587,981

—
—
908
—
825
1,733
101
81,544
440,244
$ 521,788

$
$

1,183
5,192

$
$

1,048
4,603

$
$

—
8,382

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.  

51

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

NOTE 1: BASIS OF PRESENTATION

These  consolidated  financial  statements  include  the  accounts  of  Kulicke  and  Soffa  Industries,  Inc.  and  its  subsidiaries  (the 
“Company”), with appropriate elimination of intercompany balances and transactions. 

Fiscal Year 

Each of the Company's first three fiscal quarters ends on the Saturday that is 13 weeks after the end of the immediately preceding 
fiscal quarter. The fourth quarter of each fiscal year ends on the Saturday closest to September 30th. In fiscal years consisting of 
53 weeks, the fourth quarter will consist of 14 weeks. The 2015, 2014, and 2013 fiscal years ended on October 3, 2015, September 27, 
2014 and September 28, 2013, respectively. 

Nature of Business

The Company designs, manufactures and sells capital equipment and expendable tools as well as services, maintains, repairs and 
upgrades equipment, all used to assemble semiconductor devices. The Company's operating results depend upon the capital and 
operating expenditures of semiconductor device manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers (“OSATs”), 
and other electronics manufacturers, including automotive electronics suppliers, worldwide which, in turn, depend on the current 
and anticipated market demand for semiconductors and products utilizing semiconductors. The semiconductor industry is highly 
volatile  and  experiences  downturns  and  slowdowns  which  can  have  a  severe  negative  effect  on  the  semiconductor  industry's 
demand for semiconductor capital equipment, including assembly equipment manufactured and sold by the Company and, to a 
lesser extent, expendable tools, including those sold by the Company. These downturns and slowdowns have in the past adversely 
affected the Company's operating results. The Company believes such volatility will continue to characterize the industry and the 
Company's operations in the future.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements requires management 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, management evaluates 
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,  valuation  allowances  for  deferred  tax  assets  and  deferred  tax 
liabilities,  repatriation  of  un-remitted  foreign  subsidiary  earnings,  equity-based  compensation  expense,  and  warranties. 
Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions believed to be reasonable. As a result, 
management makes judgments regarding the carrying values of its 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, management evaluates these estimates.  Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Vulnerability to Certain Concentrations

Financial instruments which may subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk as of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 
2014  consisted  primarily  of  short-term  investments  and  trade  receivables. The  Company  manages  credit  risk  associated  with 
investments  by  investing  its  excess  cash  in  highly  rated  debt  instruments  of  the  U.S.  Government  and  its  agencies,  financial 
institutions,  and  corporations.  The  Company  has  established  investment  guidelines  relative  to  diversification  and  maturities 
designed to maintain safety and liquidity. These guidelines are periodically reviewed and modified as appropriate. The Company 
does not have any exposure to sub-prime financial instruments or auction rate securities. 

The Company's trade receivables result primarily from the sale of semiconductor equipment, related accessories and replacement 
parts, and expendable tools to a relatively small number of large manufacturers in a highly concentrated industry. Write-offs of 
uncollectible accounts have historically not been significant; however, the Company monitors its customers' financial strength to 
reduce the risk of loss. 

The Company's products are complex and require raw materials, components and subassemblies having a high degree of reliability, 
accuracy and performance. The Company relies on subcontractors to manufacture many of these components and subassemblies 
and it relies on sole source suppliers for some important components and raw material inventory.

Foreign Currency Translation and Remeasurement

The majority of the Company's business is transacted in U.S. dollars; however, the functional currencies of some of the Company's 
subsidiaries are their local currencies. In accordance with ASC No. 830, Foreign Currency Matters (“ASC 830”), for a subsidiary 
of the Company that has a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar, gains and losses resulting from the translation of the 

52

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

functional currency into U.S. dollars for financial statement presentation are not included in determining net income, but are 
accumulated in the cumulative translation adjustment account as a separate component of shareholders' equity (accumulated other 
comprehensive income (loss)). Under ASC 830, cumulative translation adjustments are not adjusted for income taxes as they relate 
to indefinite investments in non-U.S. subsidiaries. Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions are included in 
the determination of net income.

The Company's operations are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates due to transactions denominated in currencies 
other  than  the  location's  functional  currency.  The  Company  is  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, Malaysia, Singapore and Switzerland. In addition to net monetary remeasurement, the 
Company  has  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  Netherlands,  China,  Taiwan,  Japan  and  Germany.  The 
Company's U.S. operations also have foreign currency exposure due to net monetary assets denominated in currencies other than 
the U.S. dollar.

Derivative Financial Instruments 

The Company’s primary objective for holding derivative financial instruments is to manage the fluctuation in foreign exchange 
rates and accordingly is not speculative in nature. The Company’s international operations are exposed to changes in foreign 
exchange rates as described above. The Company has established a program to monitor the forecasted transaction currency risk 
to protect against foreign exchange rate volatility. Generally, the Company uses foreign exchange forward contracts in these hedging 
programs. The instruments, which have maturities of up to six months, are recorded at fair value and are included in prepaid 
expenses and other current assets, or other accrued expenses and other current liabilities. 

Our accounting policy for derivative financial instruments is based on whether they meet the criteria for designation as a cash flow 
hedge. A designated hedge with exposure to variability in the functional currency equivalent of the future foreign currency cash 
flows of a forecasted transaction is referred to as a cash flow hedge. The criteria for designating a derivative as a cash flow hedge 
include the assessment of the instrument’s effectiveness in risk reduction, matching of the derivative instrument to its underlying 
transaction, and the assessment of the probability that the underlying transaction will occur. For derivatives with cash flow hedge 
accounting designation, we report the after-tax gain / (loss) from the effective portion of the hedge as a component of accumulated 
other comprehensive income / (loss) and reclassify it into earnings in the same period in which the hedged transaction affects 
earnings and in the same line item on the consolidated statement of income as the impact of the hedged transaction. Derivatives 
that we designate as cash flow hedges are classified in the consolidated statement of cash flows in the same section as the underlying 
item, primarily within cash flows from operating activities. 

The hedge effectiveness of these derivative instruments is evaluated by comparing the cumulative change in the fair value of the 
hedge contract with the cumulative change in the fair value of the forecasted cash flows of the hedged item.

If a cash flow hedge is discontinued because it is no longer probable that the original hedged transaction will occur as previously 
anticipated, the cumulative unrealized gain or loss on the related derivative is reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive 
income / (loss) into earnings. Subsequent gain / (loss) on the related derivative instrument is recognized into earnings in each 
period until the instrument matures, is terminated, is re-designated as a qualified cash flow hedge, or is sold. Ineffective portions 
of cash flow hedges, as well as amounts excluded from the assessment of effectiveness, are recognized in earnings.

Cash Equivalents      

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less when purchased to be cash 
equivalents.  Cash equivalents are measured at fair value based on level one measurement, or quoted market prices, as defined by 
ASC No. 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures. As of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014, fair value approximated 
the cost basis for cash equivalents.  

Investments     

Investments, other than cash equivalents, are classified as “trading,” “available-for-sale” or “held-to-maturity,” in accordance with 
ASC No. 320, Investments-Debt & Equity Securities, and depending upon the nature of the investment, its ultimate maturity date 
in the case of debt securities, and management's intentions with respect to holding the securities. Investments classified as “trading” 
are reported at fair market value, with unrealized gains or losses included in earnings. Investments classified as “available-for-
sale” are reported at fair market value, with net unrealized gains or losses reflected as a separate component of shareholders' equity 
(accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)). The fair market value of trading and available-for-sale securities is determined 

53

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

using quoted market prices at the balance sheet date. Investments classified as held-to-maturity are reported at amortized cost. 
Realized gains and losses are determined on the basis of specific identification of the securities sold.

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company maintains allowances for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from its customers' failure to make required 
payments. If the financial condition of the Company's customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to 
make payments, additional allowances may be required. The Company is also 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 the Company does business, it could 
have a significant impact on the results of operations, and the Company's ability to realize the full value of its accounts receivable.

Inventories

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost (on a first-in first-out basis) or market value. The Company generally provides 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 expendable tools. Forecasted consumption is based upon internal projections, historical sales volumes, customer 
order activity and a review of consumable inventory levels at customers' facilities. The Company communicates forecasts of its 
future consumption to its suppliers and adjusts commitments to those suppliers accordingly. If required, the Company reserves 
the difference between the carrying value of its inventory and the lower of cost or market value, based upon assumptions about 
future consumption, and market conditions. If actual market conditions are less favorable than projections, additional inventory 
reserves may be required.

The inventory reserve provision for the acquired business, Assembléon B.V. (“Assembléon”), 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. 

Property, Plant and Equipment     

Property, plant and equipment are carried at cost. The cost of additions and those improvements which increase the capacity or 
lengthen the useful lives of assets are capitalized while repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. Depreciation and 
amortization are provided on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives as follows: buildings 25 years; machinery and 
equipment 3 to 10 years; and leasehold improvements are based on the shorter of the life of lease or life of asset. Purchased 
computer software costs related to business and financial systems are amortized over a five-year period on a straight-line basis. 

Valuation of Long-Lived Assets     

In accordance with ASC No. 360, Property, Plant & Equipment ("ASC 360"), the Company's property, plant and equipment is 
tested for impairment based on undiscounted cash flows when triggering events occur, and if impaired, written-down to fair value 
based on either discounted cash flows or appraised values. ASC 360 also provides a single accounting model for long-lived assets 
to be disposed of by sale and establishes additional criteria that would have to be met to classify an asset as held for sale. The 
carrying amount of an asset or asset group is not recoverable to the extent it exceeds the sum of the undiscounted cash flows 
expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the asset or asset group. Estimates of future cash flows used to test the 
recoverability of a long-lived asset or asset group must incorporate the entity's own assumptions about its use of the asset or asset 
group and must factor in all available evidence.

ASC 360 requires that long-lived assets be tested for recoverability whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that 
their carrying amount may not be recoverable. Such events include significant under-performance relative to historical internal 
forecasts or projected future operating results; significant changes in the manner of use of the assets; significant negative industry 
or  economic  trends;  and  significant  changes  in  market  capitalization.  During  the  fiscal  years  ended  October 3,  2015  and 
September 27, 2014, no triggering events occurred. 

Accounting for Impairment of Goodwill

The Company operates two reportable segments: Equipment and Expendable Tools. Goodwill was recorded for the acquisitions 
of Orthodyne Electronics Corporation ("Orthodyne") and Assembléon in 2009 and 2015, respectively.

Accounting Standard Update 2011-08, Testing Goodwill for Impairment (“ASU 2011-08”), provides companies with the option 
to 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 two-step impairment test is unnecessary. However, if a 

54

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

company concludes otherwise, then it is required to perform the first step of the two-step goodwill impairment test. If the carrying 
value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value in the first step of the test, then a company is required to perform the second step 
of the goodwill impairment test to measure the amount of the reporting unit’s goodwill impairment loss, if any.  

In fiscal 2014 and 2015, the Company chose to bypass the qualitative assessment and proceed directly to performing the quantitative 
evaluation of the fair value of the reporting unit, to compare against the carrying value of the reporting unit. 

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. As of October 3, 2015, no triggering 
events have occurred.  

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 our 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 may lead the Company to perform interim goodwill 
impairment assessments, 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. 

For further information on goodwill and other intangible assets, see Note 5 below.

Revenue Recognition

In  accordance  with ASC  No.  605,  Revenue  Recognition,  the  Company  recognizes  revenue  when  persuasive  evidence  of  an 
arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the price is fixed or determinable, the collectability is 
reasonably assured, and customer acceptance, when applicable, has been received or we otherwise have been released from customer 
acceptance obligations. If terms of the sale provide for a customer acceptance period, revenue is recognized upon the expiration 
of  the  acceptance  period  or  customer  acceptance,  whichever  occurs  first.  The  Company’s  standard  terms  are  ex  works  (the 
Company’s factory), with title transferring to its customer at the Company’s loading dock or upon embarkation. The Company 
has a small percentage of sales with other terms, and revenue is recognized in accordance with the terms of the related customer 
purchase order. 

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.

Research and Development     

The Company charges research and development costs associated with the development of new products to expense when incurred. 
In certain circumstances, pre-production machines which the Company intends to sell are carried as inventory until sold.

Income Taxes

In accordance with ASC No. 740, Income Taxes, deferred income taxes are determined using the liability method. The Company 
records a valuation allowance to reduce its deferred tax assets to the amount it expects is more likely than not to be realized. While 
the Company has considered future taxable income and its 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 the deferred tax asset would increase income in the period such determination was made. Likewise, 
should the Company determine it would not be able to realize all or part of its net deferred tax assets in the future, an adjustment 
to the deferred tax asset would decrease income in the period such determination was made. 

In accordance with ASC No. 740 Topic 10, Income Taxes, General (“ASC 740.10”), the Company accounts for uncertain tax 
positions taken or expected to be taken in its income tax return. 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 audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation 
processes, if any. 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.

55

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

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 market-based restricted stock is determined using a Monte-Carlo valuation model, and compensation 
expense associated with time-based and performance-based restricted stock is determined based on the number of shares granted 
and the fair value on the date of grant. The fair value of the Company's stock option awards are estimated using a Black-Scholes 
option valuation model. In addition, the calculation of equity-based compensation costs requires that the Company estimate the 
number of awards that will be forfeited during the vesting period. 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.

Earnings per Share     

Earnings per share (“EPS”) are calculated in accordance with ASC No. 260, Earnings per Share. Basic EPS include only the 
weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS includes the weighted average number 
of common shares and the dilutive effect of stock options, restricted stock and share unit awards and convertible subordinated 
notes outstanding during the period, when such instruments are dilutive.

In accordance with ASC No. 260.10.55, Earnings per Share - Implementation & Guidance, the Company treats all outstanding 
unvested share-based payment awards that contain rights to nonforfeitable dividends as participating in undistributed earnings 
with common shareholders. Awards of this nature are considered participating securities and the two-class method of computing 
basic and diluted EPS must be applied. 

Accounting for Business Acquisitions

The Company accounts for business acquisitions in accordance with ASC No. 805, Business Combinations. The fair value of the 
net assets acquired and the results of operations of the acquired businesses are included in the Company's Consolidated Financial 
Statements from the acquisition date forward. The Company is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported 
amounts of assets and liabilities and results of operations during the reporting period. Estimates are used in accounting for, among 
other things, the fair value of acquired net operating assets, property, plant and equipment, deferred revenue, intangible assets and 
related deferred tax liabilities, useful lives of plant and equipment, and amortizable lives of acquired intangible assets. Any excess 
of the purchase consideration over the identified fair value of the assets and liabilities acquired is recognized as goodwill. The 
valuation of these tangible and identifiable intangible assets and liabilities is subject to further management review and may change 
materially between the preliminary allocation and end of the purchase price allocation period.

Restructuring charges

Restructuring charges may consist of voluntary or involuntary severance-related charges, asset-related charges and other costs due 
to exit activities. We recognize voluntary termination benefits when an employee accepts the offered benefit arrangement. We 
recognize involuntary severance-related charges depending on whether the termination benefits are provided under an ongoing 
benefit arrangement or under a one-time benefit arrangement. If the former, we recognize the charges once they are probable and 
the amounts are estimable. If the latter, we recognize the charges once the benefits have been communicated to employees.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2014-09, Revenue 
from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Accounting Standards 
Codification (“ASC”) 605, Revenue Recognition. The new standard provides for a single five-step model to be applied to all 
revenue contracts with customers. The new standard also requires additional financial statement disclosures that will enable users 
to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows relating to customer contracts. Companies 
have an option to use either a retrospective approach or cumulative effect adjustment approach to implement the standard. There 
is no option for early adoption. In July 2015, the FASB decided to delay the effective date of the new revenue standard by one 
year. Under the proposal, the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2018 fiscal year. We are currently evaluating 
the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements and have not yet selected a transition approach to implement the 
standard.

56

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-02 – Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis, which amends the consolidation 
requirements in ASC 810 Consolidation. ASU 2015-02 makes targeted amendments to the current consolidation guidance for 
VIEs, which could change consolidation conclusions.  This ASU will be effective for us beginning in our first quarter of 2017 and 
early adoption is permitted.  We are evaluating the effects of the adoption of this ASU on our financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-05, which provides additional guidance to customers about whether a cloud computing 
arrangement includes a software license. Under ASU 2015-05, if a software cloud computing arrangement contains a software 
license, customers should account for the license element of the arrangement in a manner consistent with the acquisition of other 
software licenses. If the arrangement does not contain a software license, customers should account for the arrangement as a service 
contract. ASU 2015-05 also removes the requirement to analogize to ASC 840-10 – Leases to determine the asset acquired in a 
software licensing arrangement. This ASU will be effective for us beginning in our first quarter of 2017 and early adoption is 
permitted.  We are evaluating the effects of the adoption of this ASU on our financial statements.

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-11, Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory, which requires that inventory be measured 
at the lower of cost or net realizable value rather than the lower of cost or market. This standard must be applied on a prospective 
basis, and is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning January 1, 2017. Since early adoption is permitted, we 
adopted this standard in the fourth quarter of 2015. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our financial 
statements.

57

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

NOTE 2: RESTRUCTURING

On September 29, 2015, the Company implemented a plan to streamline its global operations and functions. As part of this plan, 
we expect that our workforce will be reduced by 45 employees over a period of approximately 3 months. 

The following table reflects severance activity during fiscal 2015:

(in thousands)

Provision for severance and benefits (1)

Payment of severance and benefits

Accrual for estimated severance and benefits, end of period (2)

Fiscal

2015

1,850
(312)
1,538

(1)  Provision for severance and benefits is the total amount expected to be incurred and is included within selling, general and 

administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. 

(2)  Included within accrued expenses and other current liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

NOTE 3: BALANCE SHEET COMPONENTS

The following tables reflect the components of significant balance sheet accounts as of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014:

(in thousands)
Short term investments, available-for-sale:
Deposits maturing within one year (1)

Inventories, net:
Raw materials and supplies
Work in process
Finished goods

Inventory reserves

Property, plant and equipment, net:
Buildings and building improvements
Leasehold improvements
Data processing equipment and software
Machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures

Accumulated depreciation

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities:
Wages and benefits
Accrued customer obligations (2)
Commissions and professional fees
Deferred Rent
Severance
Other

58

As of

October 3, 2015

September 27, 2014

— $

9,105

23,541
24,110
50,518
98,169
(19,073)
79,096

33,760
19,512
28,861
52,106
134,239
(81,005)
53,234

19,166
9,215
3,880
2,450
1,645
9,615
45,971

$

$

$

$

$

$

22,184
18,783
22,590
63,557
(13,863)
49,694

31,159
13,962
27,538
45,442
118,101
(65,346)
52,755

21,498
8,999
1,961
2,161
1,067
8,045
43,731  

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

(1)  All short-term investments were classified as available-for-sale and were measured at fair value based on level one measurement, 

or quoted market prices, as defined by ASC 820. 

(2)  Represents customer advance payments, customer credit program, accrued warranty expense and accrued retrofit obligations.

NOTE 4: BUSINESS COMBINATIONS

On  January  9,  2015,  Kulicke  &  Soffa  Holdings  B.V.  (“KSH”),  the  Company's  wholly  owned  subsidiary,  acquired  all  of  the 
outstanding equity interests of Assembléon.

The cash purchase price of approximately $97.4 million (EUR 80 million) consisted of $72.5 million for 100% of the equity of 
Assembléon and $24.9 million which was used by Assembléon to settle intercompany loans with its parent company.

The acquisition of Assembléon was accounted for in accordance with  ASC No. 805, Business Combinations, using the acquisition 
method. The Company has estimated the preliminary fair value of acquired assets and liabilities as of the date of acquisition based 
on information available at that time. The valuation of these tangible and identifiable intangible assets and liabilities is subject to 
further management review and may change materially between the preliminary allocation and end of the purchase price allocation 
period on January 9, 2016. Any changes in these estimates may have a material impact on our Consolidated Results of Operations 
or Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of October 3, 2015, $13.5 million (EUR 12 million) was held in escrow for a period of eighteen 
months from the acquisition date as security pending the completion of Assembleon Holding B.V.'s obligations as seller under the 
Agreement.

The following table summarizes the allocation of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on the fair values as of the 
acquisition date and related useful lives of the finite-lived intangible assets acquired: 

(in thousands)

Accounts receivable

Inventories

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

Deferred tax asset

Property, plant and equipment

Intangibles

Goodwill

Deferred income taxes

Accounts payable

Borrowings financial institutions

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
Income taxes payable

Deferred tax liabilities

Total purchase price, net of cash acquired

January 9, 2015

9,941

19,861

2,322

157

531

61,463

39,726

638
(14,386)
(9,491)
(10,561)
(1,933)
(5,115)
93,153

$

Tangible net assets (liabilities) were valued at their respective carrying amounts, which the Company believes approximate their 
current fair values at the acquisition date. 

The valuation of identifiable intangible assets acquired reflects management’s estimates based on, among other factors, use of 
established valuation methods. The technology/software and product brand name was determined using the relief from royalty 
method. Customer relationships were valued by using multi-period excess earnings method. Identifiable intangible assets with 
definite lives are amortized over the period of estimated benefit using the straight-line method and the estimated useful lives of 
six to fifteen years. The straight-line method of amortization represents the Company’s best estimate of the distribution of the 
economic value of the identifiable intangible assets. Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the fair value of 
the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired. None of the goodwill recorded as part of the acquisition will be deductible 
for income tax purposes.

In connection with the acquisition of Assembléon, the Company recorded deferred tax liabilities relating to the acquired intangible 
assets, which are partially offset by the net amount of acquired net operating losses. The net amount of acquired net operating 

59

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

losses is comprised of net operating losses less the tax reserves and valuation allowance. The Company has recorded long-term 
income tax payable due to uncertain tax positions with respect to certain Assembléon entities.

For the year ended October 3, 2015, the acquired business contributed revenue of $59.3 million and net loss of $2.0 million.

During fiscal 2015, the Company incurred $0.9 million of expenses related to the acquisition, which is included within selling, 
general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of income.

The following unaudited pro forma information presents the combined results of operations as if the acquisition had been completed 
on September 29, 2013, the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period. The unaudited pro forma results include: 
(i) amortization associated with preliminary estimates for the acquired intangible assets; (ii) recognition of the post-acquisition 
share-based compensation and other compensation expense; and (iii) the associated tax impact on these unaudited pro forma 
adjustments. 

The unaudited pro forma results do not reflect any cost saving synergies from operating efficiencies or the effect of the incremental 
costs incurred in integrating the two companies. Accordingly, these unaudited pro forma results are presented for informational 
purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of what the actual results of operations of the combined company would have 
been if the acquisition had occurred at the beginning of the periods presented, nor are they indicative of future results of operations:

(in thousands)

Revenue

Net income / (loss)

Basic income per common share

Diluted income per common share

Fiscal

2015

2014

$

562,754 $

45,303

0.60

0.60

590,080

60,920

0.80

0.79

NOTE 5: GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Goodwill

Intangible assets classified as goodwill are not amortized. The Company performs an annual impairment test of its goodwill during 
the fourth quarter of each fiscal year, which coincides with the completion of its annual forecasting and refreshing of its business 
outlook processes. The Company performed its annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 and concluded that no 
impairment charge was required. During the  year ended October 3, 2015, the Company reviewed the qualitative factors to ascertain 
if a “triggering” event may have taken place that may have the effect of reducing the fair value of the reporting unit below its 
carrying value and concluded that no triggering event had occurred in fiscal 2015. 

In 2009, the Company recorded goodwill when it acquired Orthodyne and added wedge bonder products to its business.

On December 29, 2014, KSH, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, entered into an agreement with Assembléon Holding B.V. 
Pursuant to the agreement, KSH purchased all of the outstanding equity interests of Assembléon, a subsidiary of Assembléon 
Holding  B.V.,  in  an  all  cash  transaction  for  approximately  $97.4  million  (EUR  80  million). Assembléon,  together  with  its 
subsidiaries, offers assembly equipment, processes and services for the automotive, industrial, and advanced packaging markets. 
The acquisition expands the Company presence in automotive, industrial and advanced packaging markets.

The acquisition was completed on January 9, 2015. Upon acquisition, Assembléon became a wholly owned subsidiary of the 
Company. The following table summarizes the Company's recorded goodwill as of October 3, 2015:

(in thousands)

Balance at September 27, 2014

Acquired in business combination

Balance at October 3, 2015

As of

October 3, 2015

$

$

41,546

39,726

81,272

60

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

Intangible Assets

Intangible assets with determinable lives are amortized over their estimated useful lives. The Company's intangible assets consist 
primarily of developed technology, customer relationships and trade and brand names.

The following table reflects net intangible assets as of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014: 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
Developed technology
Acquired in business combination
Accumulated amortization

Net developed technology

Customer relationships
Acquired in business combination
Accumulated amortization

$

$

$

Net customer relationships $

Trade and brand names
Acquired in business combination
Accumulated amortization

Net trade and brand names

Other intangible assets
Accumulated amortization

Net wedge bonder other intangible assets

Net intangible assets

$

$

$

$

$

As of

October 3, 2015

33,200
40,880
(35,244)
38,836

19,300
17,668
(21,509)
15,459

4,600
2,915
(4,339)
3,176

2,500
(2,500)

$

$

$

$

$

— $

Average estimated
useful lives (in years)
7.0 to 15.0

September 27, 2014
33,200
$
—
(28,458)
4,742

$

19,300
—
(19,300)
—

4,600
—
(3,451)
1,149

2,500
(2,500)
—

5.0 to 6.0

7.0 to 8.0

1.9

57,471

$

5,891

The following table reflects estimated annual amortization expense related to intangible assets as of October 3, 2015:

(in thousands)
Fiscal 2016
Fiscal 2017
Fiscal 2018
Fiscal 2019
Fiscal 2020 and thereafter
Total amortization expense

As of
October 3, 2015

$

$

6,660
6,086
6,086
6,086
32,553
57,471  

61

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

NOTE 6: CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS

Cash equivalents and short-term investments consist of instruments with remaining maturities of three months or less at the date 
of purchase. In general, these investments are free of trading restrictions. We carry these investments at fair value, based on quoted 
market prices or other readily available market information. 

Cash and cash equivalents consisted of the following as of October 3, 2015:

(dollar amounts in thousands)

Current assets:

Cash

Cash equivalents

Money market funds

Time deposits

Amortized
Cost

Unrealized
Gains

Unrealized
Losses

Estimated
Fair Value

$

105,617

$

— $

— $

105,617

155,715

237,282

—

—

—

—

155,715

237,282

498,614

Total cash and cash equivalents

$

498,614

$

— $

— $

Cash and cash equivalents consisted of the following as of September 27, 2014:

(dollar amounts in thousands)

Current assets:

Cash

Cash equivalents

Money market funds

Time deposits

Commercial paper

Total cash and cash equivalents

Short-term investments

Time deposits

Total short-term investments

Amortized
Cost

Unrealized
Gains

Unrealized
Losses

Estimated
Fair Value

$

130,668

$

— $

— $

130,668

295,529

132,284

29,500

—

—

—

—

—

—

295,529

132,284

29,500

$

587,981

$

— $

— $

587,981

9,105

9,105

—

—

—

—

9,105

9,105

Total cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

$

597,086

$

— $

— $

597,086

NOTE 7: FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Accounting standards establish three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value: quoted prices in active markets for 
identical assets or liabilities (referred to as Level 1), inputs other than Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either 
directly or indirectly (referred to as Level 2) and unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the 
measurement of fair value of assets or liabilities (referred to as Level 3).

Assets and Liabilities Measured and Recorded at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis 

We measure certain financial assets and liabilities at fair value on a recurring basis. There have been no transfers between fair 
value measurement levels during the year ended October 3, 2015.

Fair Value Measurements on a Nonrecurring Basis 

Our non-financial assets such as intangible assets and property, plant equipment are carried at cost unless impairment is deemed 
to have occurred. 

62

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

Fair Value of Financial Instruments 

Amounts reported as cash and equivalents, short-term investments, accounts receivables, prepaid expenses and other current assets, 
accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value.The fair value of our financial assets and liabilities at October 3, 
2015 was determined using the following inputs:

(dollar amounts in thousands)

Fair Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using

Assets:

Cash

Cash equivalents

Money market funds

Time deposits

Total assets

Quoted Prices
in Active
Markets for
Identical Assets

Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs

Significant
Unobservable
Inputs

Total

(Level 1)

(Level 2)

(Level 3)

$

105,617

$

105,617

$

— $

155,715

237,282

155,715

237,282

—

—

$

498,614

$

498,614

$

— $

—

—

—

—

The fair value of our financial assets and liabilities at September 27, 2014 was determined using the following inputs:

(dollar amounts in thousands)

Fair Value Measurements at Reporting Date Using

Assets:

Cash

Cash equivalents

Money market funds

Time deposits

Commercial paper

Short-term investments

Time deposits

Total assets

Quoted Prices
in Active
Markets for
Identical Assets

Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs

Significant
Unobservable
Inputs

Total

(Level 1)

(Level 2)

(Level 3)

$

130,668

$

130,668

$

— $

295,529

132,284

29,500

295,529

132,284

29,500

9,105

9,105

—

—

—

—

$

597,086

$

597,086

$

— $

—

—

—

—

—

—

 NOTE 8: DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS 

The Company’s international operations are exposed to changes in foreign exchange rates due to transactions denominated in 
currencies other than U.S. dollars. Most of the Company’s revenue and cost of materials are transacted in U.S. dollars. However, 
a significant amount of the Company’s operating expenses are denominated in foreign currencies, primarily in Singapore. 

The foreign currency exposure of our operating expenses are generally hedged with foreign exchange forward contracts. The 
Company’s foreign exchange risk management programs include using foreign exchange forward contracts with cash flow hedge 
accounting  designation  to  hedge  exposures  to  the  variability  in  the  U.S.-dollar  equivalent  of  forecasted  non-U.S.-dollar-
denominated operating expenses. These instruments generally mature within 6 months. For these derivatives, we report the after-
tax gain or loss from the effective portion of the hedge as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), and 
we reclassify it into earnings in the same period or periods in which the hedged transaction affects earnings and in the same line 
item on the consolidated statements of income as the impact of the hedged transaction.

63

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

There were no outstanding derivative instruments as of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014. 

The effect of derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges in our Consolidated Statements of Income for the year ended 
October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014 was as follows:

(in thousands)

Foreign exchange forward contract in cash flow hedging relationships:
Net (loss)/ gain recognized in OCI, net of tax(1)
Net (loss)/ gain reclassified from  accumulated OCI into income, net of tax(2)
Net gain recognized in income(3)

Fiscal

2015

2014

$

$

$

(1,008) $
(1,008) $
— $

114

114

—

(1)  Net change in the fair value of the effective portion classified in other comprehensive income (“OCI”).   
(2)  Effective portion classified as selling, general and administrative expense.   
(3)  Ineffective portion and amount excluded from effectiveness testing classified in selling, general and administrative 
expense.

NOTE 9: DEBT AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS

Financing Obligation

On December 1, 2013, Kulicke & Soffa Pte Ltd. (“Pte”), the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, signed a lease with DBS Trustee 
Limited as trustee of Mapletree Industrial Trust (the “Landlord”) to lease from the Landlord approximately 198,000 square feet, 
representing approximately 70% of a building in Singapore as our corporate headquarters, as well as a manufacturing, technology, 
sales and service center (the “Building”). The lease has a 10 year non-cancellable term (the "Initial Term") and contains options 
to renew for 2 further 10 -year terms. The annual rent and service charge for the initial term range from $4 million to $5 million 
Singapore dollars.  

Pursuant  to ASC  No.  840,  Leases  ("ASC  840"),  we  have  classified  the  Building  on  our  balance  sheet  as  Property,  Plant  and 
Equipment, which we are depreciating over its estimated useful life of 25 years. We concluded that the term of the financing 
obligation is 10 years. This is equal to the non-cancellable term of our lease agreement with the Landlord. At the inception of the 
lease, the asset and financing obligation recorded on the balance sheet was $20.0 million, which was based on an interest rate of 
6.3% over the Initial Term. The financing obligation will be settled through a combination of periodic cash rental payments and 
the return of the leased property at the expiration of the lease. We do not report rent expense for the property, which is deemed 
owned for accounting purposes. Rather, rental payments required under the lease are considered debt service and applied to the 
deemed landlord financing obligation and interest expense. The Building and financing obligation are being amortized in a manner 
that will not generate a gain or loss upon lease termination.   

Credit facility and bank guarantee

On November 22, 2013, the Company obtained a $5.0 million credit facility with Citibank in connection with the issuance of a 
bank guarantee of $3.4 million Singapore dollars to the Landlord in connection with the lease. The bank guarantee was effective 
from December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014. On November 19, 2014, the Company extended the expiration date of the bank 
guarantee to November 30, 2015 and increased the amount to $3.5 million Singapore dollars. 

NOTE 10: SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY AND EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Common Stock and 401(k) Retirement Income Plan

The Company has a 401(k) retirement income plan (the “Plan”) for its employees. Since 2011, matching contributions to the Plan 
have been made in cash. The Plan allows for employee contributions and matching Company contributions up to 4% or 6% of the 
employee's contributed amount based upon years of service.

The following table reflects the Company’s matching contributions to the Plan during fiscal 2015 and 2014:

(in thousands)
Cash

Fiscal

2015

2014

$

1,573

$

1,278

64

 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

Stock Repurchase Program

On August 14, 2014, 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 14, 2017. The Company has entered into a written trading plan under Rule 
10b5-1 of the Exchange Act, to facilitate repurchases under the Program. The Program may be suspended or discontinued at any 
time and is funded using the Company's available cash. 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 year ended October 3, 
2015, the Company repurchased a total of 6.4 million shares of common stock at a cost of $77.9 million. The stock repurchases 
were recorded in the periods they were delivered, and the payment of $75.7 million was accounted for as treasury stock in the 
Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet. The Company records treasury stock purchases under the cost method using first-in, first-
out (FIFO) method. Upon reissuance 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 transaction is insufficient to cover the difference between acquisition cost and the reissue price, this 
difference is recorded against retained earnings.

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

The following table reflects accumulated other comprehensive income reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of October 3, 
2015 and September 27, 2014: 

As of

(in thousands)
(Loss)/Gain from foreign currency translation adjustments
Unrecognized actuarial loss, Switzerland pension plan, net of tax
Switzerland pension plan curtailment
Accumulated other comprehensive income

$

$

Equity-Based Compensation

October 3, 2015

September 27, 2014
3,199
(609)
(346)
2,244

(161) $
(590)
(346)
(1,097) $

As of October 3, 2015, the Company had seven equity-based employee compensation plans (the “Employee Plans”) and three 
director compensation plans  (the “Director  Plans”) (collectively,  the “Plans”).  Under  these Plans,  market-based share  awards 
(collectively, “market-based restricted stock”), time-based share awards (collectively, “time-based restricted stock”), performance-
based share awards (collectively, “performance-based restricted stock”), stock options, or common stock have been granted at 
100% of the market price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant. As of October 3, 2015, the Company’s one active 
plan, the 2009 Equity Plan, had 3.4 million shares of new common stock available for grant to its employees and directors.

•  Market-based restricted stock entitles the employee to receive common shares of the Company on the award vesting date 
if market performance objectives which measure relative total shareholder return (“TSR”) are attained. Relative TSR is 
calculated based upon the 90-calendar day average price of the Company's stock as compared to specific peer companies 
that comprise the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. TSR is measured for the Company and each peer company over a 
performance period, which is generally three years. Vesting percentages range from 0% to 200% of awards granted. The 
provisions  of  the  market-based  restricted  stock  are  reflected  in  the  grant  date  fair  value  of  the  award;  therefore, 
compensation expense is recognized regardless of whether the market condition is ultimately satisfied. Compensation 
expense is reversed if the award is forfeited prior to the vesting date. 

• 

• 

In general, stock options and time-based restricted stock awarded to employees vest annually over a three-year period 
provided the employee remains employed by the Company. The Company follows the non-substantive vesting method 
for stock options and recognizes compensation expense immediately for awards granted to retirement-eligible employees, 
or over the period from the grant date to the date retirement eligibility is achieved. 

In general, performance-based restricted stock (“PSU”) entitles the employee to receive common shares of the Company 
on the three-year anniversary of the grant date (if employed by the Company) if return on invested capital and revenue 
growth targets set by the Management Development and Compensation Committee (“MDCC”) of the Board of Directors 
on the date of grant are met. If return on invested capital and revenue growth targets are not met, performance-based 
restricted stock does not vest. Certain PSUs vest based on achievement of strategic goals over a certain time period or 
periods set by the MDCC. If the strategic goals are not achieved, the PSUs do not vest.

65

 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

Equity-based compensation expense recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013 was 
based upon awards ultimately expected to vest. In accordance with ASC No. 718, Stock Based Compensation, forfeitures have 
been estimated at the time of grant and were based upon historical experience. The  Company reviews the forfeiture rates periodically 
and makes adjustments as necessary.

The following table reflects total equity-based compensation expense, which includes restricted stock, stock options and common 
stock, included in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Cost of sales
Selling, general and administrative
Research and development
Total equity-based compensation expense

2015

393
9,127
2,469
11,989

$

$

$

$

Fiscal
2014

344
8,906
2,086
11,336

$

$

2013

295
8,457
1,918
10,670

The following table reflects equity-based compensation expense, by type of award, for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:                                                  

(in thousands)
Market-based restricted stock 
Time-based restricted stock
Performance-based restricted stock 
Stock options
Common stock
Total equity-based compensation expense

2015

Fiscal
2014

$

$

4,677
6,129
131
3
1,049
11,989

$

$

4,960
5,419
131
17
809
11,336

$

$

2013

4,135
5,545
107
43
840
10,670

Equity-Based Compensation: employee market-based restricted stock

The following table reflects employee market-based restricted stock activity for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

Market-based restricted stock
outstanding as of September 29, 2012

Granted

Forfeited or expired
Vested

Number of shares
(in thousands)

914

344

(49)
(124)

Unrecognized
compensation
expense (in
thousands)

$

6,175

Market-based restricted stock
outstanding as of September 28, 2013

1,085

$

5,913

Granted

Forfeited or expired

Vested

Market-based restricted stock
outstanding as of September 27, 2014

Granted

Forfeited or expired

Vested

335

(19)

(333)

1,068

232

(48)

(674)

5,271

Market-based restricted stock
outstanding as of October 3, 2015

578

$

4,465

Average remaining
service period (in
years)

Weighted average
grant date fair
value per share

13.89

13.46

16.83

$

$

$

1.5

1.1

1.0

1.4

66

 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

The following table reflects the assumptions used to calculate compensation expense related to the Company’s performance-
based restricted stock issued during fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

Grant Price

Expected dividend yield

Expected stock price volatility

Risk-free interest rate

2015

Fiscal

2014

$

14.02

$

11.29

$

N/A

35.48%

0.89%

N/A

44.88%

0.69%

2013

10.49

N/A

57.74%

0.31%

Equity-Based Compensation: employee time-based restricted stock

The following table reflects employee time-based restricted stock activity for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

Number of shares
(in thousands)

Unrecognized
compensation
expense (in
thousands)

Average remaining
service period (in
years)

Weighted average
grant date fair
value per share

Time-based restricted stock
outstanding as of September 29, 2012

1,532

$

7,070

Granted

Forfeited or expired

Vested

620

(132)

(804)

Time-based restricted stock
outstanding as of September 28, 2013

1,216

$

6,028

Granted

Forfeited or expired

Vested

649

(52)

(756)

Time-based restricted stock
outstanding as of September 27, 2014

1,057

$

6,720

Granted

Forfeited or expired

Vested

484

(29)

(663)

Time-based restricted stock
outstanding as of October 3, 2015

849

$

7,054

10.59

11.48

14.06

$

$

$

1.4

1.2

1.4

1.6

67

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

Equity-Based Compensation: employee performance-based restricted stock

The following table reflects employee performance-based restricted stock activity for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

Performance-based restricted stock outstanding as of
September 29, 2012

Granted

Performance-based restricted stock outstanding as of
September 28, 2013

Granted

Performance-based restricted stock outstanding as of
September 27, 2014

Granted

Performance-based restricted stock outstanding as of October
3, 2015

Number of shares
(in thousands)

Unrecognized
compensation
expense (in
thousands)

Average remaining
service period (in
years)

—

57

57

—

57

—

57

—

550

419

285

0

4.2

3.2

2.2

The following table reflects employee stock option activity for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

Number of
shares (in
thousands)

Weighted
average
exercise price

Average
remaining
contractual
life (in years)

Aggregate
intrinsic value
(in thousands)

Options outstanding as of September 29, 2012

Exercised

Forfeited or expired

Options outstanding as of September 28, 2013

Exercised

Forfeited or expired

Options outstanding as of September 27, 2014

Exercised

Forfeited or expired

Options outstanding as of October 3, 2015

Options vested and expected to vest as of October 3, 2015
Options exercisable as of October 3, 2015

In the money exercisable options as of October 3, 2015

$
703
(101) $
(40) $
$
562
(121) $
(221) $
220
$
(45) $
(28) $
$
147

$
$

147
147

145

9.40

8.96

9.59

9.56

7.84

11.92

8.14

8.58

7.25

8.18

8.18
8.18

$

$

$

$

$

$

2.0

2.0
2.0

292

654

282

154

154

154

Since 2011, on average, 6.7% of stock options granted by the Company become vested each year, and on average, 21% of stock 
options granted by the Company are forfeited or expire each year. Intrinsic value of stock options exercised is determined by 
calculating the difference between the market value of the Company's stock price at the time an option is exercised and the exercise 
price, multiplied by the number of shares. The intrinsic value of stock options outstanding and stock options exercisable is determined 
by calculating the difference between the Company's closing stock price on the last trading day of fiscal 2015 and the exercise 
price of in-the-money stock options, multiplied by the number of underlying shares. During fiscal 2015, the Company received 
$0.7 million in cash from the exercise of employee and non-employee director stock options.

As of October 3, 2015, there were no unvested employee stock options.

68

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

The following table reflects outstanding and exercisable employee stock options as of October 3, 2015:

Range of
exercise prices
3.06 - 7.08
8.43 - 9.64

Options outstanding
(in thousands)

Options Outstanding
Weighted average
remaining contractual
life (in years)

Options Exercisable

Weighted
average exercise
price

Options exercisable
(in thousands)

Weighted
average exercise
price

19
128
147

4.1
1.7
2.0

$

$

4.94
8.65
8.18

19
128
147

$

$

4.94
8.65
8.17

Equity-Based Compensation: non-employee directors

The 2009 Equity Plan provides for the grant of common shares to each non-employee director upon initial election to the board 
and on the first business day of each calendar quarter while serving on the board. The grant to a non-employee director upon initial 
election to the board is that number of common shares closest in value to, without exceeding, $120,000.  The quarterly grant to a 
non-employee director upon the first business day of each calendar year quarter is that number of common shares closest in value 
to, without exceeding, $30,000.

The following table reflects shares of common stock issued to non-employee directors and the corresponding fair value for fiscal 
2015, 2014, and 2013:

(in thousands)
Number of common shares issued
Fair value based upon market price at time of issue

2015

$

83
1,049

$

Fiscal
2014

63
810

$

2013

74
908

The following table reflects non-employee director stock option activity for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

Number of shares
(in thousands)

Weighted
average
exercise price

Average
remaining
contractual life
(in years)

Aggregate
intrinsic value
(in thousands)

Options outstanding as of September 29, 2012
and September 28, 2013

Exercised

Forfeited or expired

Options outstanding as of September 27, 2014

Exercised
Forfeited or expired

Options outstanding as of October 3, 2015

Options vested and expected to vest as of
October 3, 2015

Options exercisable as of October 3, 2015

In the money exercisable options as of October
3, 2015

11.45

11.2

12.45

10.22

10.19
6.48

11.2

11.2

11.2

135
$
(10) $
(70) $
55
$
(30) $
(5) $
$
20

$

$

20

20

—

$

$

$

$

$

0.4

0.4

0.4

614

225

—

—

—

No non-employee director stock options were granted during fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013.

Pension Plan

The following table reflects the Company's defined benefits pension obligations as of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014:

69

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

(in thousands)

Switzerland pension obligation

Taiwan pension obligation

Total pension obligation

Other Plans

As of

October 3, 2015

September 27, 2014

689

1,196

1,885

$

$

703

1,323

2,026

$

$

Some of the Company's other foreign subsidiaries have retirement plans that are integrated with and supplement the benefits 
provided by laws of the various countries. These other plans are not required to report nor do they determine the actuarial present 
value of accumulated benefits or net assets available for plan benefits as they are defined contribution plans. 

NOTE 11: EARNINGS PER SHARE

Basic income  per share is calculated using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. 
Stock options and restricted stock are included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share, except when their effect would be 
anti-dilutive. In addition, net income applicable to participating securities and the related participating securities are excluded from 
the computation of basic income per share.

Diluted income per share is calculated using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the 
period and, if there is net income during the period, the dilutive impact of common stock equivalents outstanding during the period.

The following tables reflect a reconciliation of the shares used in the basic and diluted net income per share computation for fiscal 
2015, 2014, and 2013: 

(in thousands, except per share)

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

Basic

Diluted

Basic

Diluted

Basic

Diluted

NUMERATOR:

Net income

Less: income applicable to
participating securities

Net income applicable to common
shareholders

DENOMINATOR:

Weighted average shares outstanding
- Basic

Stock options

Time-based restricted stock

Market-based restricted stock

Weighted average shares outstanding
- Diluted

EPS:

$

50,639

$

50,639

$

62,988

$

62,988

$

59,358

$

59,358

—

—

—

—

—

—

$

50,639

$

50,639

$

62,988

$

62,988

$

59,358

$

59,358

75,414

75,414

76,396

76,396

75,132

75,132

70

175

—

75,659

117

398

381

110

512

436

77,292

76,190

Net income per share - Basic

$

0.67

Effect of dilutive shares

Net income per share - Diluted

$

$

0.67

$

0.82

—

0.67

$

0.79

$

$

$

0.82
(0.01)
0.81

$

$

$

0.79
(0.01)
0.78

70

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

NOTE 12: INCOME TAXES

The following table reflects income from continuing operations by location, the provision for income taxes and the effective tax 
rate for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013: 

(dollar amounts in thousands)
United States operations
Foreign operations
Income from operations before tax
Income tax (benefit)/expense
Net income

2015

4,178
33,527
37,705
(12,934)
50,639

$

$

$

$

Fiscal
2014

7,700
69,433
77,133
14,145
62,988

$

$

2013

(4,340)
71,008
66,668
7,310
59,358

Effective tax rate

(34.3)%

18.3%

11.0%

The following table reflects the provision for income taxes from continuing operations for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

(in thousands)
Current:
   Federal
   State
   Foreign
Deferred:
   Federal
   State
   Foreign
Provision for income taxes

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

$

$

1,459
76
4,707

(20,250)
(10)
1,084
(12,934) $

843
78
5,534

5,474
5
2,211
14,145

$

$

(212)
291
1,732

985
5
4,509
7,310

The following table reflects the difference between the provision for income taxes and the amount computed by applying the 
statutory federal income tax rate for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

(in thousands)
Computed income tax expense based on U.S. statutory rate
Effect of earnings of foreign subsidiaries subject to different tax rates
Benefits from foreign approved enterprise zones
Benefits from research and development tax credits (including prior years)
Change in Permanent Reinvestment Assertion
Dividend income
Effect of permanent items
Changes in valuation allowance

Foreign operations (withholding taxes, deferred taxes on unremitted
earnings, US taxation of foreign earnings)
Reserve for uncertain tax positions
State income tax expense
Other, net
Provision for income taxes

$

2015

13,197
(6,103)
(5,855)
(4,090)
(19,704)
—
1,822
2,634

4,904
886
(1,543)
918
(12,934) $

$

$

Fiscal
2014

2013

26,997
(9,763)
(17,423)
—
—
8,190
(298)
(1,820)

5,906
131
2,241
(16)
14,145

$

$

23,334
(11,193)
(9,626)
—
—
—
664
1,429

1,789
683
(734)
964
7,310

Income tax expense for the current year includes approximately $1.0 million, $1.2 million and $0.3 million of taxes payable for 
deemed distributions from earnings for the years ended October 3, 2015, September 27, 2014 and September 28, 2013, respectively.  

71

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

During the year ended October 3, 2015, the Company began executing a business structure reorganization for two groups of its 
foreign subsidiaries resulting in a change in its permanent reinvestment assertion outside the United States.  Approximately $19.7 
million of deferred tax liability was reversed and recorded as a tax benefit due to the change in the assertion.

We consider the earnings of certain foreign subsidiaries to be permanently reinvested outside the United States. We have not 
recorded  a  deferred  tax  liability  for  U.S.  federal  income  taxes  of  approximately  $530.5  million  of  undistributed  earnings. 
Determination of the amount of unrecognized deferred tax liability related to these earnings is not practicable, with the exception 
of a foreign subsidiary where we continue to retain a deferred tax liability for foreign withholding taxes of approximately $14.5 
million, as those earnings may be distributed to its immediate foreign parent company.

Undistributed earnings of approximately $27.2 million are not considered to be permanently reinvested outside the United States. 
As of October 3, 2015, the Company has provided a deferred tax liability of approximately $12.6 million for withholding taxes 
associated with future repatriation of earnings for certain subsidiaries to the United States.  

The following table reflects the net deferred tax balance, composed of the tax effects of cumulative temporary differences for fiscal 
2015 and 2014:

(in thousands)
Inventory reserves
Other accruals and reserves
Net operating loss carryforwards
Valuation allowance
Total short-term deferred tax asset

Total short-term deferred tax liability
  Net short-term deferred tax asset

Domestic tax credit carryforwards
Net operating loss carryforwards
Stock options
Other

Valuation allowance
Total long-term deferred tax asset (1)

Repatriation of foreign earnings, including foreign withholding taxes
Depreciable assets
Prepaid expenses and other
Total long-term deferred tax liability
  Net long-term deferred tax liability
Total net deferred tax liability

Fiscal

2015

2014

641
3,470
628
(613)
4,126

23
4,103

5,035
32,355
525
337
38,252
(22,502)
15,750

27,101
16,735
—
43,836
28,086
23,983

$

$

$

$

$

$

$
$
$

692
3,713
666
(780)
4,291

106
4,185

688
27,361
703
400
29,152
(23,844)
5,308

43,204
3,013
300
46,517
41,209
37,024

$

$

$

$

$

$

$
$
$

(1)  Included in other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets are deferred tax assets of $3.2 million and $3.8 million as of 

October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014, respectively. 

As of October 3, 2015, the Company has foreign net operating loss carryforwards of $102.5 million, domestic state net operating 
loss carryforwards of $186.0 million, domestic federal net operating loss carryforwards of $3.2 million, and tax credit carryforwards 
of $7.4 million that will reduce future taxable income. These carryforwards can be utilized in the future, prior to expiration of 
certain carryforwards in fiscal years 2016 through 2034 with the exception of certain credits and foreign net operating losses that 
have no expiration date. Pennsylvania tax law limits the time during which carryforwards may be applied against future taxes and 
also limits the utilization of domestic state net operating loss carryforwards to as little as $4.0 million annually, but recent tax law 
changes may increase this amount in future years. The Company has recorded a valuation allowance against domestic state tax 
attributes and certain foreign tax attributes, including additional valuation allowance relating to the tax attributes of acquired 
Assembléon entities.

72

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

The Company continues to evaluate the realizability of all of its net deferred tax assets at each reporting date and records a benefit 
for deferred tax assets to the extent it has deferred tax liabilities that provide a source of income to benefit the deferred tax asset. 
As a result of this analysis, the Company continues to maintain a valuation allowance against a majority of its state deferred tax 
assets as the realization of these assets is not more likely than not given uncertainty of future earnings in these jurisdictions. 

The beginning and ending balances of the Company's unrecognized tax benefits are reconciled below for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 
2013: 

(in thousands)
Unrecognized tax benefit, beginning of  year
Additions for tax positions, current year
Additions for tax positions, prior year
Reductions for tax positions, prior year
Unrecognized tax benefit, end of year

2015

7,192
—
5,140
(5,231)
7,101

$

$

$

$

Fiscal
2014

6,869
—
717
(394)
7,192

$

$

2013

6,186
—
2,485
(1,802)
6,869

If recognized, the $6.0 million of unrecognized tax benefit as of October 3, 2015 would impact the Company's effective tax rate.   

In  fiscal  2015,  the  Company  recorded  reserves  relating  to  uncertain  tax  positions  with  respect  to  the  acquired  business  of 
Assembléon, and has also released tax reserves for research tax credits resulting from a write off of research tax credits carryforwards 
that had no impact to the statement of operations. 

In fiscal 2013, the Company recognized a benefit of $1.7 million related to the reversal of a reserve for uncertain tax positions 
based on administrative practices in a foreign jurisdiction and an additional $0.1 million related to a position effectively settled 
upon audit in a different foreign jurisdiction. The Company has also taken a position on a tax return in a foreign jurisdiction that 
does meet the recognition and measurement criteria under ASC 740 and as a result it has provided a reserve for uncertain tax 
position of $2.1 million.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. 
There were no additional accruals of interest expense on various uncertain tax positions during fiscal 2015 for matters involving 
jurisdictions where interest is not assessed. 

The Company's future effective tax rate would be affected if earnings were lower than anticipated in countries where it is subjected 
to lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in countries where it is subjected to higher statutory rates, by changes in the 
valuation of its deferred tax assets and liabilities, or by changes in tax laws, regulations, accounting principles, or interpretations 
thereof. In addition, changes in assertion for foreign earnings permanently or non-permanently reinvested as a result of changes 
in facts and circumstances could significantly impact the effective tax rate.  The Company regularly assesses the effects resulting 
from these factors to determine the adequacy of its provision for income taxes.

It is reasonably possible that the amount of the unrecognized tax benefit with respect to certain unrecognized tax positions will 
increase  or  decrease  during  the  next  12  months  due  to  the  expected  lapse  of  statutes  of  limitation  and/  or  settlements  of  tax 
examinations. We cannot practicably estimate the financial outcomes of these examinations.

The Company files U.S. federal income tax return, as well as income tax returns in various state and foreign jurisdictions. For the 
U.S. federal income tax returns and most state tax returns, tax years following fiscal 2001 remain subject to examination as a result 
of the generation of net operating loss carry-forwards. Currently, the Company is not under any income tax examinations by any 
U.S. tax authority. In the foreign jurisdictions where the Company files income tax returns, the statutes of limitations with respect 
to these jurisdictions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and range from 4 to 6 years. The Company is currently under income 
tax examination by tax authorities in certain foreign jurisdictions.

As a result of committing to certain capital investments and employment levels, income from operations in Singapore and Malaysia 
is subject to reduced tax rates. In connection with Singapore operations, the Company has been granted a decreased effective tax 
rate of five percent in that jurisdiction until February 1, 2020 subject to the fulfillment of certain continuing conditions. In fiscal 
2015, 2014, and 2013, the preferential rate reduced income tax expense by approximately $5.9 million or $0.08 per share, $17.4 
million or $0.23 per share and $9.6 million or $0.13 per share, respectively.

73

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

NOTE 13:  OTHER FINANCIAL DATA 

The following table reflects other financial data for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013:

(in thousands)
Incentive compensation expense   (1)
Rent expense (1)
Warranty and retrofit expense (2)

(1)  Included in selling, general and administrative expense.

(2)  Included in cost of sales.

NOTE 14: SEGMENT INFORMATION

2015

Fiscal
2014

$
$
$

10,768
5,006
2,808

$
$
$

17,596
4,608
3,261

$
$
$

2013

17,194
7,765
711

The Company operates two reportable segments: Equipment and Expendable Tools. The Equipment segment manufactures and 
sells a line of ball bonders, heavy wire wedge bonders, advanced packaging and surface mount technology solutions. The Company 
also services, maintains, repairs and upgrades its equipment. The financial performance of the acquired business has been included 
in the Equipment segment from January 9, 2015. The Expendable Tools segment manufactures and sells a variety of expendable 
tools for a broad range of semiconductor packaging applications.

The following table reflects operating information by segment for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Net revenue:
       Equipment
       Expendable Tools
              Net revenue
Income from operations:
        Equipment
        Expendable Tools
              Income from operations

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

$

472,002
64,469
536,471

21,618
15,633
37,251

$

$

503,049
65,520
568,569

59,769
17,215
76,984

$

$

472,567
62,371
534,938

52,991
12,815
65,806

The following tables reflect assets, capital expenditures and depreciation expense by segment as of and for fiscal 2015, 2014, 
and 2013:

(in thousands)
Segment assets:
Equipment
Expendable Tools
Total assets

(in thousands)
Capital expenditures:
Equipment
Expendable Tools
Capital expenditures

October 3, 2015

As of
September 27, 2014

September 28, 2013

828,471
75,995
904,466

$

$

839,847
104,601
944,448

$

$

764,793
98,201
862,994

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

7,288
2,231
9,519

$

$

9,560
2,841
12,401

$

$

11,704
5,468
17,172

$

$

$

$

74

 
 
 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

(in thousands)
Depreciation expense:
Equipment
Expendable Tools
Depreciation expense

 Geographic information

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

$

6,685
2,404
9,089

$

$

5,662
2,540
8,202

$

$

6,936
2,375
9,311

The following tables reflect destination sales to unaffiliated customers by country and long-lived assets by country for fiscal 
2015, 2014, and 2013:

(in thousands)

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

China
Taiwan
Malaysia
Japan
United States
Philippines
Korea
Hong Kong
Singapore
Vietnam
Thailand
Germany
All other
Total destination sales to unaffiliated customers $

169,557

$

56,610

48,825

31,413

47,220

42,575

40,687

15,482

17,430

4,354

13,852

11,580

144,134 $
140,586

46,033

34,480

31,645

31,371

31,284

23,709

21,934

11,355

9,386

8,496

36,886
536,471 $

34,156
568,569 $

124,272
150,271
23,799
17,680
14,652
30,257
36,949
28,911
35,833
4,639
9,143
5,822
52,710
534,938

(in thousands)
Long-lived assets:
Singapore
United States
China
Israel
Netherlands
Taiwan
All other
Total long-lived assets

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

$

$

36,754 $
7,429
7,386
3,701
1,421
794
870
58,355 $

37,169 $
8,537
7,295
4,668
—
678
974
59,321 $

32,876
8,999
6,718
5,674
—
607
977
55,851

75

 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

NOTE 15: COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND CONCENTRATIONS

Warranty Expense

The Company's equipment is generally shipped with a one-year warranty against manufacturing defects. The Company establishes 
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 warranty costs.

The following table reflects the reserve for product warranty activity for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013: 

(in thousands)
Reserve for product warranty, beginning of period
Addition from business combination
Provision for product warranty
Product warranty costs paid
Reserve for product warranty, end of period

Other Commitments and Contingencies

2015

1,542
547
2,614
(2,847)
1,856

$

$

$

$

Fiscal
2014

1,194
—
2,099
(1,751)
1,542

$

$

2013

2,412
—
1,093
(2,311)
1,194

The following table reflects obligations not reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheet as of October 3, 2015:

(in thousands)
Inventory purchase obligation (1)
Operating lease obligations (2)
Total

Total

80,600
30,195
110,795

$

$

$

$

2015

80,600
4,874
85,474

$

$

Payments due by fiscal year
2017

2016

2018

thereafter

— $

4,180
4,180

$

— $

3,498
3,498

$

— $

2,956
2,956

$

—
14,687
14,687

(1)  The  Company orders  inventory components  in the  normal course  of  its business. A  portion of  these  orders  are  non-

cancelable and a portion may have varying penalties and charges in the event of cancellation. 

(2)  The Company has minimum rental commitments under  various leases (excluding taxes, insurance, maintenance and 
repairs, which are also paid by the Company) primarily for various facility and equipment leases, which expire periodically 
through 2018 (not including lease extension options, if applicable). 

Pursuant to ASC No. 840, Leases, for lessee's involvement in asset construction, the Company was considered the owner 
of the Building during the construction phase of the ADL. The building was completed on December 1, 2013 and Pte 
signed a Lease Agreement with the Landlord to lease from the Landlord approximately 198,000 square feet, representing 
approximately 70% of the Building. Following the completion of construction, we performed a sale-leaseback analysis 
pursuant to ASC 840-40 and determined that because of our continuing involvement, ASC 840-40 precluded us from 
derecognizing  the  asset  and  associated  financing  obligation. As  such,  we  reclassified  the  asset  from  construction  in 
progress to Property, Plant and Equipment and began to depreciate the building over its estimated useful life of 25 years. 
We concluded that the term of the financing obligation is 10 years. This is equal to the non-cancellable term of our lease 
agreement with the Landlord.  As of October 3, 2015, we recorded a financing obligation related to the Building of $16.5 
million (see Note 9 above). The financing obligation is not reflected in the table above.

Concentrations

The following tables reflect significant customer concentrations as a percentage of net revenue for fiscal 2015, 2014, and 2013: 

Siliconware Precision Industries Ltd.

*

*

11.0%

2015

Fiscal
2014

2013

 * Represents less than 10% of net revenue

76

 
 
 
 
 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

The following table reflects significant customer concentrations as a percentage of total accounts receivable as of October 3, 
2015 and September 27, 2014: 

Haoseng Industrial Co., Ltd

* Represents less than 10% of total accounts receivable 

As of

October 3, 2015
*

September 27, 2014
21.5%

NOTE 16:  SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA (unaudited)

The following table reflects selected quarterly financial data for fiscal 2015 and 2014:

Fiscal 2015 for the Quarter Ended

(in thousands, except per
share amounts)
Net revenue
Gross profit
Income from operations
Income tax expense/(benefit)
Net income

Net income per share (1):
   Basic
   Diluted

Weighted average shares
outstanding:
Basic
Diluted

(in thousands, except per
share amounts)
Net revenue
Gross profit
Income from operations
Income tax (benefit)/expense
Net income

Net income per share (1):
   Basic
   Diluted

Weighted average shares
outstanding:
Basic
Diluted

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

December 27

March 28

June 27

October 3

Fiscal 2015

$

107,438
54,734

$

145,227
68,570

9,726

1,843

9,791

1,997

7,842

$

7,931

$

164,634
77,571

16,086
(8,775)
25,039

0.10

0.10

$

$

0.10

0.10

$

$

0.33

0.33

$

$

$

$

119,172
58,217

1,648
(7,999)
9,827

$

$

536,471
259,092

37,251
(12,934)
50,639

0.14

0.13

0.67

0.67

76,888

77,432

76,821

77,570

75,420

75,891

72,731

72,883

75,414

75,659

Fiscal 2014 for the Quarter Ended

December 28

March 29

June 28

September 27

Fiscal 2014

$

79,113
38,365

(2,208)

(91)

$

114,206
57,672

10,111

1,087

$

180,517
85,157

31,584

4,908

$

194,733
92,360

37,497

8,241

(1,957) $

9,070

$

26,616

$

29,259

$

568,569
273,554

76,984

14,145

62,988

(0.03) $

(0.03) $

0.12

0.12

$

$

0.35

0.34

$

$

0.38

0.38

$

$

0.82

0.81

75,912

75,912

76,404

77,021

76,596

77,605

76,658

77,925

76,396

77,292

(1) EPS for the year may not equal the sum of quarterly EPS due to changes in weighted share calculations.

77

 
 
KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - (Continued)

NOTE 17: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

On October 14, 2015, the Company entered into foreign exchange forward contracts with notional amount of $18.7 million. We 
entered into these 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 foreign exchange forward contracts 
have maturities of up to six months.

78

Item 9.  CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL 
DISCLOSURE

None.

Item 9A. - CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our  management,  with  the  participation  of  our  interim  Chief  Executive  Officer  and  Chief  Financial  Officer,  evaluated  the 
effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of October 3, 2015. Based on that evaluation, the interim Chief Executive 
Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of October 3, 2015 our disclosure controls and procedures were effective 
in providing reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosed by us in reports filed under the Securities Exchange 
Act of 1934, as amended, is (i) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities 
and Exchange Commission's rules and forms and (ii) accumulated and communicated to our management, including the interim 
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure.

Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The management of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (the “Company”) is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate 
internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The 
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. 

The Company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that pertain to the maintenance of 
records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company; 
provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance 
with generally accepted accounting principles, provide reasonable assurance that receipts and expenditures of the Company are 
being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and provide reasonable 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. 

Management evaluated the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of October 3, 2015. In making this assessment, 
management  used  the  framework  established  in  Internal  Control-Integrated  Framework  (2013)  issued  by  the  Committee  of 
Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Management's assessment included an evaluation of the design 
of our internal control over financial reporting and testing of the operational effectiveness of our internal control over financial 
reporting. Management reviewed the results of its assessment with the Audit Committee of the Company's Board of Directors. 

Management's evaluation of internal control over financial reporting as of October 3, 2015 has excluded the evaluation of the 
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting related to Assembléon B.V ("Assembléon") because it was acquired in a 
business combination during the year ended October 3, 2015. As of October 3, 2015, Assembléon represented approximately 4.9% 
of our consolidated assets. The revenue from Assembléon represented 11.0% of our consolidated revenues for the year ended 
October 3, 2015.  See Note 4 of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for more information. 

Based on that assessment and based on the criteria in the COSO framework, management has concluded that, as of October 3, 
2015, the Company's internal control over financial reporting was effective. 

The  effectiveness  of  the  Company's  internal  control  over  financial  reporting  as  of  October 3,  2015  has  been  audited  by 
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in its report, which appears herein.

Changes in internal control over financial reporting
In connection with the evaluation by our management, including with the participation of our interim Chief Executive Officer and 
Chief Financial Officer, of our internal control over financial reporting, no changes during the three months ended October 3, 2015 
were identified to have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. 

79

Item 9B.  OTHER INFORMATION

None.

80

PART III

Item 10.  DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Information required by Item 401 of Regulation S-K with respect to the directors and executive officers will appear under the 
heading “ITEM 1 - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS” in the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, 
which information is incorporated herein by reference. The other information required by Item 401 of Regulation S-K will appear 
under  the  heading  “CORPORATE  GOVERNANCE”  in  the  Company's  Proxy  Statement  for  the  2016  Annual  Meeting  of 
Shareholders, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by Item 405 of Regulation S-K will appear under the heading “CORPORATE GOVERNANCE -  Section 
16(a)  Beneficial  Ownership  Reporting  Compliance”  in  the  Company's  Proxy  Statement  for  the  2016  Annual  Meeting  of 
Shareholders, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by Item 406 of Regulation S-K will appear under the heading “CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - Code 
of Ethics” in the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which information is incorporated 
herein by reference.

The  information  required  by  Item  407(c)(3)  of  Regulation  will  appear  under  the  headings  “CORPORATE  GOVERNANCE-
Nominating and Governance Committee” and “Shareholder Proposals” in the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual 
Meeting of Shareholders, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

The  information  required  by  Items  407(d)(4)  and  (d)(5)  of  Regulation  S-K  will  appear  under  the  heading  “CORPORATE 
GOVERNANCE-Audit Committee” in the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which 
information is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The information required by Item 402 of Regulation S-K will appear under the heading “COMPENSATION OF EXECUTIVE 
OFFICERS,” in the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which information is incorporated 
herein by reference.

The information required by Item 407(e)(4) of Regulation S-K will appear under the heading “CORPORATE GOVERNANCE- 
Management Development and Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation” in the Company's Proxy Statement 
for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by Item 407(e)(5) of Regulation S-K will appear under the heading “MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT 
AND  COMPENSATION  COMMITTEE  REPORT”  in  the  Company's  Proxy  Statement  for  the  2016  Annual  Meeting  of 
Shareholders, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 12.  SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED 
STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

The information required hereunder concerning security ownership of certain beneficial owners and management will appear under 
the  headings    “CORPORATE  GOVERNANCE  -  Security  Ownership  Of  Certain  Beneficial  Owners”  and    “CORPORATE 
GOVERANCE - SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF DIRECTORS, NOMINEES AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS”,  in the Company's 
Proxy  Statement  for  the  2016 Annual  Meeting  of  Shareholders,  which  information  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference.  The 
information required by this item relating to securities authorized for issuance under equity compensation plans is included under 
the  heading  “EQUITY  COMPENSATION  PLAN  INFORMATION”  in  the  Company's  Proxy  Statement  for  the  2016 Annual 
Meeting of Shareholders, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 13.  CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

The information required by Item 404 of Regulation S-K will appear under the heading “CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - Certain 
Relationships and Related Transactions” in the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting  of Shareholders, which 
information is incorporated herein by reference.  

The information required by Section 407(a) of Regulation S-K will appear under the heading “CORPORATE GOVERNANCE - 
Board Matters” in the Company's Proxy Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which information is incorporated 
herein by reference.  

81

Item 14.  PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

The information required hereunder will appear under the heading “AUDIT AND RELATED FEES” in the Company's Proxy 
Statement for the 2016 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which information is incorporated herein by reference.

82

Item 15.  EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

(a)  The following documents are filed as part of this report:

Part IV

(1)

Financial Statements - Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc.:
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of October 3, 2015 and September 27, 2014
Consolidated Statements of Operations for fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Shareholders' Equity for fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(2)

(3)

Financial Statements and Schedules:
Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts
All other schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is
shown in the Consolidated Financial Statements or notes thereto.
Exhibits:

Page

46
47
48
49
50
51
52

86

EXHIBIT
NUMBER
3.1

3.2

4.1

10.1

10.2

10.3

10.4

10.5

10.6

The  Company's  Amended  and  Restated  Articles  of  Incorporation,  dated  December  5,  2007,  is 
incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3(i) to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 
fiscal year ended September 29, 2007, SEC file number 000-00121.

ITEM

The Company's Amended and Restated By-Laws, dated October 22, 2015, is incorporated herein by 
reference to Exhibit 3(ii) to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 22, 2015.

Specimen Common Share Certificate of Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc., is incorporated herein by 
reference to Exhibit 4 to the Company's Form-8A12G/A dated September 11, 1995, SEC file number 
000-00121.

1997 Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan for Non-Employee Directors (as amended and restated effective 
March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(vi) to the Company's Annual Report 
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, SEC file number 000-00121.*

2004 Israeli Addendum to 1998 Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan 
(as amended and restated effective March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10
(vii) to the Company's Post-Effective Amendment No.4 on Form S-1 to the Registration Statement on 
Form S-3 filed on December 14, 2004, SEC file number 333-111478.*

Form of Nonqualified Stock Option Agreement regarding the 1998 Employee Incentive Stock Option 
and  Non-Qualified  Stock  Option  Plan,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to  Exhibit  99.1  to  the 
Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 8, 2008, SEC file number 000-00121.*

Form of Incentive Stock Option Agreement regarding the Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-
Qualified  Stock  Option  Plan,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to  Exhibit  99.2  to  the  Company's 
Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 8, 2008, SEC file number 000-00121.*

1999 Nonqualified Employee Stock Option Plan (as amended and restated effective March 21, 2003), 
is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(xv) to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K 
for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, SEC file number 000-00121.*

2004 Israeli Addendum to the 1999 Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan (as amended and restated effective 
March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(ix) to the Company's Post-Effective 
Amendment No.4 on Form S-1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed on December 14, 2004, 
SEC file number 333-111478.*

83

10.7

10.8

10.9

10.10

10.11

10.12

10.13

10.14

10.15

10.16

10.17

10.18

10.19

10.20

10.21

10.22

10.23

10.23

10.25

10.26

10.27

2001 Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan (as amended and restated 
effective March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(xix) to the Company's 
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, SEC file number 000-00121.*

2004 Israeli Addendum to the 2001 Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-Qualified Stock
Option Plan (as amended and restated effective March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference
to Exhibit 10(xii) to the Company's Post-Effective Amendment No.4 on Form S-1 to the Registration
Statement on Form S-3 filed on December 14, 2004, SEC file number 333-111478.*

Officer  Incentive  Compensation  Plan,  dated August 2,  2005,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to 
Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 
2005, SEC file number 000-00121.*

2008 Equity Plan is incorporated herein by reference to Appendix A to the Company's Proxy Statement 
on  Schedule  14A  for  the  annual  meeting  of  shareholders  on  February  12,  2008,  SEC  file  number 
000-00121.*

2009 Equity Plan is incorporated herein by reference to Appendix A to the Company's Proxy Statement 
on Schedule 14A for the annual meeting of shareholders on February 10, 2009.*

Amendment No. 1 to the Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan, effective September 15, 
2009, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-
K filed on September 18, 2009.*
Amendment No. 2 to the Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan, effective September 30, 
2009, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-
K filed on September 18, 2009.*

Amendment No. 3 to the Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan, effective September 21, 
2012.*

Form of Officer Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement regarding the 2009 Equity Plan, is incorporated 
herein by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 9, 
2010.*
Form of Officer Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement regarding the 2009 Equity Plan.* 

Kulicke  &  Soffa  Industries,  Inc.  Executive  Severance  Pay  Plan,  dated  as  of  August  9,  2011,  is 
incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed 
on August 12, 2011.*

Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. Officer Severance Pay Plan, dated as of August 9, 2011, is incorporated 
herein by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 12, 
2011.*

Form of Change of Control Agreement, dated as of March 25, 2009, is incorporated herein by reference 
to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 31, 2009.*

Form  of  Change  of  Control Agreement,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to  Exhibit  10.3  to  the 
Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 12, 2011.*

Offer Letter between the Company and Bruno Guilmart dated August 6, 2010, is incorporated herein 
by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 6, 2010.*

Offer Letter between the Company and Jonathan H. Chou, dated November 16, 2010, is incorporated 
herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated November 16, 
2010.*

Form of Officer Strategic Performance Share Unit Award Agreement regarding the 2009 Equity Plan
is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the quarterly period ended December 29, 2012.*
Form of Director Indemnification Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to
the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 10, 2013.*

Lease Agreement between DBS Trustee Limited, as trustee of Mapletree Industrial Trust, and the
Kulicke & Soffa Pte. Ltd, dated December 1, 2013, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit
10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 5, 2013.

Lease Agreement Variation Letter between DBS Trustee Limited, as trustee of Mapletree Industrial
Trust, and the Kulicke & Soffa Pte. Ltd, dated December 1, 2013, is incorporated herein by reference
to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 5, 2013.

Form of Officer Indemnification Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the
Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 11, 2013.*

84

10.28

10.29

10.3

10.31

10.32

10.33

10.34

10.35

21

23

31.1

31.2

32.1

32.2

Amended and Restated Incentive Compensation Plan, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit
10.1 of the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 8, 2014.*

Incentive Compensation Plan, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 18, 2014.*
Share Sale and Purchase Agreement between Kulicke & Soffa Holdings, B.V. and Assembléon
Holding B.V., dated December 29, 2014, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the
Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended December 27, 2014.

Offer Letter between the Company and Deepak Sood, dated October 25, 2012,  incorporated herein
by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly
period ended December 27, 2014.*

Offer Letter between the Company and Yih Neng Lee, dated June 21, 2013,  incorporated herein by
reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period
ended December 27, 2014.*

Offer Letter between the Company and Irene Lee, dated January 28, 2014,  incorporated herein by
reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period
ended December 27, 2014.*

Incentive Compensation Plan, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2015.*

Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement.* 

Subsidiaries of the Company.

Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm).

Certification of Jonathan Chou, interim Chief Executive Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., 
pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).

Certification of Jonathan Chou, Chief Financial Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., pursuant 
to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).
Certification of Jonathan Chou, interim Chief Executive Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., 
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 
2002.
Certification of Jonathan Chou, Chief Financial Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., pursuant 
to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

101.INS

101.SCH

101.CAL

101.DEF

101.LAB

101.PRE

XBRL Instance Document.

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.

 * Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement

** Portions of this exhibit have been omitted pursuant to an order granted confidential treatment under the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

85

Fiscal 2015:

Allowance for doubtful
accounts

Inventory reserve

Valuation allowance for
deferred taxes

Fiscal 2014:

Allowance for doubtful
accounts

Inventory reserve

Valuation allowance for
deferred taxes

Fiscal 2013:

Allowance for doubtful
accounts

Inventory reserve

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.
Schedule II-Valuation and Qualifying Accounts

Beginning
of period

Charged to
Costs and
Expenses

Other
Additions

Other
Deductions

End of
period

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

143

13,863

24,624

504

14,120

26,444

937

18,617

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

478

3,978

$

$

—

7,696

2,634 (3) $

—

(320)

3,060

$

$

(1,820) (3) $

(371)

3,561

$

$

—

—

—

—

—

1,429 (3) $

—

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

— (1) $

621

(6,464) (2) $

19,073

—

$

27,258

(41) (1) $

143

(3,317) (2) $

13,863

—

$

24,624

(62) (1) $

504

(8,058) (2) $

14,120

—

$

26,444

Valuation allowance for
deferred taxes

$

25,015

(1) Represents write-offs of specific accounts receivable.
(2) Sale or scrap of previously reserved inventory.

(3)

Reflects increase/decrease in the valuation allowance primarily associated with the Company's U.S. and foreign net
operating losses and other deferred tax assets.

86

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its 
behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

SIGNATURES

KULICKE AND SOFFA INDUSTRIES, INC.

By:

/s/ JONATHAN CHOU
Jonathan Chou
Interim Chief Executive Officer

Dated: November 18, 2015

Signature

Title

Date

/s/  JONATHAN CHOU

Jonathan Chou

Senior Vice President, Interim Chief Executive Officer,
and Chief Financial Officer

November 18, 2015

(principal executive officer, principal financial officer and 
principal accounting officer)

/s/ GARRETT E. PIERCE

Director

November 18, 2015

Garrett E. Pierce

/s/ BRIAN R. BACHMAN

Director

November 18, 2015

Brian R. Bachman

/s/ CHIN HU LIM

Chin Hu Lim

Director

November 18, 2015

/s/ GREGORY F. MILZCIK

Director

November 18, 2015

Gregory F. Milzcik

/s/ MUI SUNG YEO

Mui Sung Yeo

/s/ PETER T. KONG

Peter T. Kong

Director 

Director

November 18, 2015

November 18, 2015

87

 
 
 
 
 
EXHIBIT
NUMBER

EXHIBIT INDEX

ITEM

3.1

3.2

4.1

10.1

10.2

10.3

10.4

10.5

10.6

10.7

10.8

10.9

10.10

10.11

10.12

10.13

10.14

The  Company's  Amended  and  Restated  Articles  of  Incorporation,  dated  December  5,  2007,  is 
incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3(i) to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the 
fiscal year ended September 29, 2007, SEC file number 000-00121.

The Company's Amended and Restated By-Laws, dated October 22, 2015, is incorporated herein by 
reference to Exhibit 3(ii) to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 22, 2015.
Specimen Common Share Certificate of Kulicke and Soffa Industries Inc., is incorporated herein by 
reference to Exhibit 4 to the Company's Form-8A12G/A dated September 11, 1995, SEC file number 
000-00121.

1997 Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan for Non-Employee Directors (as amended and restated effective 
March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(vi) to the Company's Annual Report 
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, SEC file number 000-00121.*

2004 Israeli Addendum to 1998 Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan 
(as amended and restated effective March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10
(vii) to the Company's Post-Effective Amendment No.4 on Form S-1 to the Registration Statement on 
Form S-3 filed on December 14, 2004, SEC file number 333-111478.*

Form of Nonqualified Stock Option Agreement regarding the 1998 Employee Incentive Stock Option 
and  Non-Qualified  Stock  Option  Plan,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to  Exhibit  99.1  to  the 
Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 8, 2008, SEC file number 000-00121.*

Form of Incentive Stock Option Agreement regarding the Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-
Qualified  Stock  Option  Plan,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to  Exhibit  99.2  to  the  Company's 
Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 8, 2008, SEC file number 000-00121.*

1999 Nonqualified Employee Stock Option Plan (as amended and restated effective March 21, 2003), 
is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(xv) to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K 
for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, SEC file number 000-00121.*

2004 Israeli Addendum to the 1999 Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan (as amended and restated effective 
March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(ix) to the Company's Post-Effective 
Amendment No.4 on Form S-1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed on December 14, 2004, 
SEC file number 333-111478.*

2001 Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-Qualified Stock Option Plan (as amended and restated 
effective March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10(xix) to the Company's 
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, SEC file number 000-00121.*
2004 Israeli Addendum to the 2001 Employee Incentive Stock Option and Non-Qualified Stock
Option Plan (as amended and restated effective March 21, 2003), is incorporated herein by reference
to Exhibit 10(xii) to the Company's Post-Effective Amendment No.4 on Form S-1 to the Registration
Statement on Form S-3 filed on December 14, 2004, SEC file number 333-111478.*
Officer  Incentive  Compensation  Plan,  dated August 2,  2005,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to 
Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 
2005, SEC file number 000-00121.*

2008 Equity Plan is incorporated herein by reference to Appendix A to the Company's Proxy Statement 
on  Schedule  14A  for  the  annual  meeting  of  shareholders  on  February  12,  2008,  SEC  file  number 
000-00121.*

2009 Equity Plan is incorporated herein by reference to Appendix A to the Company's Proxy Statement 
on Schedule 14A for the annual meeting of shareholders on February 10, 2009.*

Amendment No. 1 to the Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan, effective September 15, 
2009, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-
K filed on September 18, 2009.*
Amendment No. 2 to the Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan, effective September 30, 
2009, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-
K filed on September 18, 2009.*

Amendment No. 3 to the Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan, effective September 21, 
2012.*

88

10.15

10.16

10.17

10.18

10.19

10.2

10.21

10.22

10.23

10.24

10.25

10.26

10.27

10.28

10.29

10.30

10.31

10.32

10.33

10.34

10.35
21

23

31.1

Form of Officer Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement regarding the 2009 Equity Plan, is incorporated 
herein by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 9, 
2010.*

Form of Officer Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement regarding the 2009 Equity Plan.* 

Kulicke  &  Soffa  Industries,  Inc.  Executive  Severance  Pay  Plan,  dated  as  of  August  9,  2011,  is 
incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed 
on August 12, 2011.*

Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. Officer Severance Pay Plan, dated as of August 9, 2011, is incorporated 
herein by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 12, 
2011.*

Form of Change of Control Agreement, dated as of March 25, 2009, is incorporated herein by reference 
to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 31, 2009.*

Form  of  Change  of  Control Agreement,  is  incorporated  herein  by  reference  to  Exhibit  10.3  to  the 
Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on August 12, 2011.*

Offer Letter between the Company and Bruno Guilmart dated August 6, 2010, is incorporated herein 
by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 6, 2010.*

Offer Letter between the Company and Jonathan H. Chou, dated November 16, 2010, is incorporated 
herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K dated November 16, 
2010.*

Form of Officer Strategic Performance Share Unit Award Agreement regarding the 2009 Equity Plan
is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
for the quarterly period ended December 29, 2012.*
Form of Director Indemnification Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to
the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 10, 2013.*

Lease Agreement between DBS Trustee Limited, as trustee of Mapletree Industrial Trust, and the
Kulicke & Soffa Pte. Ltd, dated December 1, 2013, is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit
10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 5, 2013.
Lease Agreement Variation Letter between DBS Trustee Limited, as trustee of Mapletree Industrial
Trust, and the Kulicke & Soffa Pte. Ltd, dated December 1, 2013, is incorporated herein by reference
to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 5, 2013.
Form of Officer Indemnification Agreement is incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the
Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 11, 2013.*
Amended and Restated Incentive Compensation Plan, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit
10.1 of the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 8, 2014.*
Incentive Compensation Plan, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 18, 2014.*
Share Sale and Purchase Agreement between Kulicke & Soffa Holdings, B.V. and Assembléon
Holding B.V., dated December 29, 2014, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the
Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended December 27, 2014.
Offer Letter between the Company and Deepak Sood, dated October 25, 2012,  incorporated herein
by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly
period ended December 27, 2014.*
Offer Letter between the Company and Yih Neng Lee, dated June 21, 2013,  incorporated herein by
reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period
ended December 27, 2014.*
Offer Letter between the Company and Irene Lee, dated January 28, 2014,  incorporated herein by
reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period
ended December 27, 2014.*
Incentive Compensation Plan, incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the Company's
Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 25, 2015.*

Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. 2009 Equity Plan Restricted Share Unit Award Agreement.*
Subsidiaries of the Company.

Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm).

Certification of Jonathan Chou, interim Chief Executive Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., 
pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).

89

31.2

32.1

32.2

101.INS

101.SCH

101.CAL

101.DEF

101.LAB

101.PRE

Certification of Jonathan Chou, Chief Financial Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., pursuant 
to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).

Certification of Jonathan Chou, interim Chief Executive Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., 
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 
2002.

Certification of Jonathan Chou, Chief Financial Officer of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc., pursuant 
to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

XBRL Instance Document.

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.

XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.

  * Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement

** Portions of this exhibit have been omitted pursuant to an order granted confidential treatment under the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

90

 
Stock Performance Graph 

The graph set forth below compares, for fiscal years 2011 through 2015, the yearly change in the cumulative total returns to 
holders of common shares of the Company with the cumulative total return of a peer group selected by the Company and of 
the NASDAQ Composite Index. The peer group is focused on companies that manufacture equipment and materials similar 
to the equipment and materials manufactured by the Company, and is composed, in part, by reference to peer group lists that 
the  Company  believes  are  commonly  used  by  institutional  investors  and  financial  research  analysts  when  evaluating 
Company  performance.  The  Company  believes  that  the  peer  group  provides  a  useful  reference  point  for  investors  when 
evaluating Company performance across the semiconductor assembly equipment industry business cycle. The peer group is 
composed  of  ASM  Pacific  Technology  Ltd.,  BE  Semiconductor  Industries,  N.V.,  Brooks  Automation  Inc.,  Cohu,  Inc., 
KLA-Tencor  Corp.,  LAM  Research  Corp.,  Xcerra  Corporation,  Shinkawa  Ltd.,  Teradyne  Inc.,  Ultratech,  Inc.,  and  Veeco 
Instruments Inc. The graph assumes that the value of the investment in the relevant stock or index was $100 at October 2, 
2010 and that all dividends were reinvested. Total returns are calculated based on the Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc. fiscal 
year calendar. For purposes of the peer group index, the peer group companies have been weighted based upon their relative 
market capitalization. The closing sale price of the Company’s common shares as of October 3, 2015 was $9.22. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Company Information 
December 2015 

Corporate Locations 

  Additional Information 

Corporate Headquarters 

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. 
23A Serangoon North Avenue 5 
#01-01 
Singapore 554369 

Technology Centers 

Berg, Switzerland 
Eindhoven, the Netherlands 
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 
Santa Ana, California 
Singapore 
Suzhou, China 
Yokneam Elite, Israel 

Equipment Manufacturing Facilities 

Eindhoven, the Netherlands 
Singapore 
Santa Ana, California 

Expendable Tools Manufacturing Facilities 

Suzhou, China 
Yokneam Elite, Israel 

Independent Accountants 

PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP 
Singapore 

Registrar and Transfer Agent 

American Stock Transfer & Trust 
6201 15th Avenue 
Brooklyn, New York  11219 
800-937-5449 

NASDAQ Symbol: KLIC 

Supplemental Investor Information 

An electronic copy of the 2015 Annual Report, 
Proxy Statement, SEC filings and supplemental 
investor 
information  are  available 
the 
Investor  section  of  the  Company’s  corporate 
website at investor.kns.com. 

in 

For additional information please contact: 
Joseph Elgindy 
Investor Relations & Strategic Initiatives 
+1-215-784-7500 
investor@kns.com 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LEADERSHIP TEAM

Kulicke & Soffa’s highly experienced Board of Directors and Executive Officers continue to leverage 
the  Company’s  strengths  and  execute  on  new  and  challenging  corporate  objectives.  The  unique  
perspective  and  broad  diversity  of  the  management  team  are  important  factors  to  the  Company’s 
ongoing success in the dynamic and evolving markets it serves.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jonathan H. Chou
Chief Financial Officer and  
Interim Chief Executive Officer

Lester Wong
Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs  
and General Counsel

Yih-Neng Lee
Senior Vice President,  
Global Sales and Services

Irene Lee
Senior Vice President, Global Operations  
and Chief Quality Officer

Deepak Sood
Vice President,  
Global Engineering

Nelson Wong
Vice President,  
Wire Bond Solutions Business Unit

Garrett E. Pierce
Chairman of the Board
Kulicke & Soffa Industries, Inc.
Chief Financial Officer
Orbital ATK, Inc.

Brian R. Bachman
Private Investor

Lim Chin Hu
Managing Partner
Stream Global Pte. Ltd.
Independent Director
Telstra Corporation Ltd.

Peter T. Kong
Retired President
Arrow Global Components
Director
Ferro Corporation
Director
Global Advanced Metals

Gregory F. Milzcik
Retired President and  
Chief Executive Officer
Barnes Group Inc.
Director
IDEX Corporation

Yeo Mui Sung
Chief Campus Officer
MediaCorp Pte. Ltd.
Executive Chairman & Director
Singapore Media Academy
Private Limited
Executive Chairman & Director
MediaCorp VizPro International Pte. Ltd.
Director
MediaCorp TV Holdings Pte. Ltd.

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“The Board and management team continue to maintain 
an updated and relevant capital allocation policy in an 
effort to optimally drive long-term and sustainable 
shareholder returns.”

Garrett E. Pierce
Chairman of the Board

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS:
23A Serangoon North Ave 5 #01-01, Singapore 554369  ::  (P) +65-6880-9600  ::  (F) +65-6880-9580