ONTO INNOVATION INC. (ONTO) Business

Item 1. Business.

General

Onto Innovation® is a worldwide leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of metrology and inspection tools for the semiconductor industry, including process control tools that perform optical metrology and inspection on patterned and unpatterned wafers, including macro defect inspection of both 2D and 3D wafer features, wafer substrate and panel substrate lithography systems, and process control analytical software. Our products are primarily used by silicon wafer manufacturers, semiconductor integrated circuit (“IC”) fabricators, and advanced packaging manufacturers operating in the semiconductor market. Our products are also used for process control in a number of other specialty device manufacturing markets, including light emitting diodes (“LED”), vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (“VCSEL”), micro-electromechanical systems (“MEMS”), CMOS image sensors (“CIS”), silicon and compound semiconductor (SiC and GaN) power devices, analog devices, RF filters, data storage, and certain industrial and scientific applications.

We provide process and yield management solutions used in bare silicon wafer production and wafer processing facilities, often referred to as “front-end” manufacturing, and advanced packaging of chips and test facilities, or “back-end” manufacturing, through a portfolio of standalone systems for optical metrology, macro-defect inspection, packaging lithography, as well as transparent and opaque thin film measurements. Our automated and integrated metrology systems measure critical dimensions, device structures, topography, shape, and various thin film compositions, including three-dimensional features and film thickness, as well as optical and material properties. Our primary areas of focus include products that provide critical yield-enhancing and actionable information, which is used by microelectronic device manufacturers to improve yield and time to market of their next-generation devices. Our systems feature sophisticated software and production-worthy automation. In addition, our advanced process control software portfolio includes powerful solutions for standalone tools, groups of tools, and factory-wide and enterprise-wide suites to enhance productivity and achieve significant cost savings. Our systems are backed by worldwide customer service and applications support.

Semilab USA Acquisition

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company acquired Semilab USA, which was a subsidiary of Semilab International Zrt., which added three advanced product lines—FAaST®, CnCV® and MBIR—to Onto Innovation’s portfolio, enhancing the Company’s capabilities in inline wafer contamination monitoring, materials characterization and unique surface charge metrology. For more information regarding these product lines, please see “Onto Innovation’s Products” below.

Industry Background

We participate in the sale, design, manufacture, marketing and support of process control systems across all major segments of the semiconductor industry for optical critical dimension (“OCD”) metrology, thin film metrology, silicon wafer inspection, including 2D and 3D macro inspection and lithography tools for advanced packaging and advanced analytical software for semiconductor manufacturing as well as inspection systems for certain industrial applications and scientific research. Our principal market is semiconductor capital equipment. Semiconductors packaged as ICs, or “chips”, are used in consumer electronics, server and enterprise systems, mobile computing (including smart phones and tablets), data storage devices, and embedded automotive and control systems. Our core focus is the measurement and control of the structure, composition, and geometry of semiconductor devices as they are fabricated on silicon wafers to improve device performance and manufacturing yields. Our end customers manufacture many types of ICs for a multitude of applications, each having unique manufacturing challenges. This includes ICs to enable information processing and management (logic ICs), memory storage (NAND, 3D-NAND, and DRAM), analog devices (e.g., Wi-Fi and 5G radio ICs, power devices), MEMS sensor devices (accelerometers, pressure sensors, microphones), CMOS image sensors, and other specialty end markets including components for hard disk drives, LEDs, and power management devices.

Markets

Advanced Nodes. “Advanced nodes” refers to leading-edge ICs where the sizes of transistors and other features continue to shrink. Advanced nodes are associated with transistor dimensions less than 10 nanometers (nm), with the most advanced logic devices now in production using 3nm and 2nm transistor dimensions. Our metrology systems used to measure and characterize these small features are generally purchased when a customer is beginning development at a new, smaller node, in order to set up and test new manufacturing equipment being installed for production at the new node. Our process control/metrology equipment is generally installed prior to the installation of the actual process equipment for that reason. Additional process control equipment is normally purchased when the initial process yields have been stabilized and more

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manufacturing capacity is required to meet production demands. Therefore, our sales to customers for advanced nodes is generally higher when manufacturing lines for new nodes are being established and may not represent continuous sales revenue until our initial systems reach high levels of utilization driven by the need for greater capacity.

The growth in artificial intelligence (“AI”) based applications has generated significant demand and new technology requirements in the advanced node segment, including for both logic and memory devices. Demand for our products also continues to be driven by our customers’ desire for higher overall chip performance enabled by a greater number of transistors per square millimeter, while improving power efficiency, logic processing capability, data storage volume and manufacturing yield. To achieve these goals, our customers have increased their use of more complex materials and processing methods in their manufacturing flow. The primary path for performance gains is geometric scaling, known as node shrinks, or scaling of transistor dimensions. In some cases, our customers are implementing new materials and methods in high volume manufacturing, including materials and device architectures to reduce power consumption. To scale NAND memory, for example, a 3D layered architecture has been implemented for several customers with more than 700 storage cell layers for devices in production. Additional innovation continues in Data Storage, Power Devices, MEMS, and Image Sensors. We believe the use of these new materials and manufacturing methods has increased demand for our products such as the Atlas® product line, which is capable of measuring advanced nodes as certain features shrink beyond 7nm, to 5nm, 3nm and in the most advanced of cases, 2 nm or less.

To shrink features, new methods, including multiple patterning lithography and extreme ultra-violet (“EUV”) lithography, have been developed. The EUV process is driving significantly higher requirements for the silicon wafers that are entering the EUV chamber. Small particles on the backside of the wafer measuring a few micrometers (microns) can distort the images being projected onto the top side. Our NovusEdge® inspection tool has been installed at major silicon wafer manufacturers to detect backside contamination and edge cracking as a final quality control mechanism before wafers are shipped to the semiconductor fabrication processes. The top side of wafers used for the EUV process is covered with an epitaxial layer, which must also be scanned for any impurities. This compositional analysis may be measured using our Element® system using Fourier Transform Infrared (“FTIR”) algorithms.

Advanced Packaging. “Advanced packaging” refers to a variety of technologies on either wafer or panel level substrates (or both) that enable the miniaturization of electronic products, such as smartphones, watches, and tablets. Historically, IC packaging refers to the final stage of semiconductor device fabrication, in which a single circuit made from semiconducting material (a die or chip) is encased in a molded package using small wires to provide connections to a carrier that can be soldered to a printed circuit board and also prevents physical damage and corrosion to the chip.  Advanced packaging refers loosely to the multi-layer conductors and chip structures (other than wires) that often interconnect multiple die, feed them with electric power and create signal paths to and from the Printed Circuit (“PC”) board, dissipate their heat, and protect them from damage.  Today, the drive to pack more functions into a small space and reduce their power requirements demands that chip packages do much more than ever before to combine multiple chips and functions into a single molded package.

One example of the technology used in advanced packaging is the 3D integration of semiconductors. This technology involves stacking individual chips in one integrated package. Through-silicon vias (“TSVs”) are vertical copper interconnects that are embedded from the bottom surface of a die to the top surface and use small copper/solder “bumps” to connect one chip to another. TSVs allow power and communication to be shared among the individually stacked components. This offers the advantages of shorter signal paths and, in turn, reduced power consumption, enhanced bandwidths, integration of heterogeneous components such as memory and logic chips, and smaller surface area. The processes required for 3D integration vary from one manufacturer to another and many continue to be optimized for yield and to ensure the functioning of individual stacked chips.

Heterogeneous integrated (“HI”) packaging is another advanced packaging technology using copper pillars/bumps to vertically connect a wide variety of stacked die for 2.5D, and 3D integration techniques as well as horizontally connected chips and is considered the next disruptive technology for several reasons. First, HI packages using 3D stacking can significantly reduce the space needed inside an electronic device, such as a smartphone, by combining multiple chips/functions into a “system in a package” (“SIP”). Next, HI packages also improve a system’s performance by reducing power and signal conductor lengths, which previously were routed from package to package through a PC board using thin redistribution layers (“RDLs”) to connect chips that are side-by-side. Lastly, the technology is currently considered the preferred vehicle for next generation uses, such as SIP, and package on package formats. As a result of the small overall form factor, HI packages provide the functionality needed in high-end mobile and wearable products.

Our inspection systems and software are used for process control and detection of potential reliability failures in nearly all of these packages. Inspection rates for advanced packages are high throughout the assembly process to avoid a single defective chip from being assembled into a relatively expensive package. Thus, unlike the cyclical nature of our metrology equipment associated with node shrinks, our sales revenue for advanced packaging is generally driven by assembly volumes.

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Recently, the growth in AI applications has generated significant demand and new technology requirements in the advanced packaging segment at both the wafer process and panel process levels.

Panel Substrate Manufacturing. One current process to manufacture advanced packaging involves attaching known good die to a 300mm wafer. SIP packages can often contain side-by-side die, meaning the package can be large and limit the number of packages being placed on a wafer. In order to meet the growing demand at reduced average selling prices, manufacturers are looking to scalable technology. Advanced packaging facilities looking to improve Cost of Ownership and increase productivity are transitioning from 300mm wafers to large rectangular panels, which can be as large as 650mm x 650mm. This larger size enables companies manufacturing large area packages to increase the number of devices being processed at each step as they are no longer limited to operating within the constraints of a round wafer. By responding to market opportunities and addressing the stringent demands of customers’ technical roadmaps, we believe that Onto Innovation is optimally positioned to capitalize on the emerging market of high-volume manufacturing of advanced IC substrates. For example, the JetStep® X500 lithography system, having emerged from the flat panel display market, is readily capable of processing RDLs on very thin advanced organic laminate panels in the semiconductor advanced packaging market. The Firefly® series of panel level macro inspection tools, designed for high resolution inspection, can provide defect detection and location information to the JetStep X500 tool for each die, which greatly improves lithography throughput using our exclusive StepFAST™ process. It also delivers a combination of defect classification and process throughput in a single software platform. It reduces capital investment requirements and provides a reliable pathway to transition from wafer to panel-based processes.

Technology

We believe that our expertise in our core technologies of optics and software and our combined investment in research and development will enable us to rapidly develop new technologies and products in order to quickly respond to emerging industry trends and competitive challenges. The breadth of our technology enables us to offer a diverse combination of metrology, inspection, and process control solutions. Unique features have been designed into our lithography systems to meet our customers’ changing process requirements. Our metrology and inspection technologies provide process control for the majority of advanced node wafers processed today in a semiconductor wafer fab. In front-end processes, OCD metrology, thin film metrology, wafer stress metrology and macro defect detection and classification technologies allow yield enhancement for critical processes such as photolithography, diffusion, etch, chemical mechanical planarization (“CMP”) and outgoing quality control. Within the back-end manufacturing processes, our 2D/3D advanced macro defect inspection provides our customers with critical quality assurance and process information. Defects may be created during probing, bumping, dicing, assembly processes (RDLs, TSVs, copper pillars, etc.) or general handling and can have a major impact on device and process quality. Lastly, we turn the gathered data into useful knowledge for our customers to make yield-enhancing decisions, which lower their scrap cost and environmental impact and improve their margins.

Onto Innovation’s Products

Automated Metrology Systems. The Atlas family of products represents our line of high-performance automated metrology systems providing OCD and thin film metrology and wafer stress metrology for transistor and interconnect metrology applications. The thin film and OCD technology is supported by our suite of solutions including our latest introductions of AI Diffract™ software, SpectraProbe™ software and AiGen X™ scalable computing engine, which enables visualization, modeling, and analysis of complex structures.

AI Diffract is a modeling, visualization and analysis software that takes signals from the metrology systems, providing critical dimension, thickness, and optical properties from in-line measurements. The software has an intuitive three-dimensional modeling interface to provide visualization of today’s advanced and complex semiconductor devices. There are proprietary fitting algorithms in AI Diffract that enable very accurate and very fast calculations for signal processing for high fidelity model-based measurements. SpectraProbe is a model-less fitting engine that enables fast time to solution for in-line excursion detection and control. SpectraProbe complements the high-fidelity modeling of AI Diffract with a simple machine learning interface for rapid recipe deployment. The software is supported by Ai Gen X, an enterprise scale computing hardware system that is deployed to run the computing intensive analysis software. Ai Gen X leverages commercial server chips and networking architecture and is optimized to support the workload of AI Diffract and SpectraProbe analysis.

Integrated Metrology Systems. Our integrated metrology (“IM”) systems are installed directly onto wafer processing equipment to provide near real-time measurements for improved process control and maximum throughput. Our IM systems are sold directly to end user customers. The IMPULSE® family of products includes the latest technology for OCD, and thin film metrology, and has been successfully qualified on multiple independent wafer fabrication equipment suppliers’ platforms.

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Silicon Wafer All-surface Inspection/Characterization. “All-surface” refers to inspection of the wafer frontside, edge, and backside as well as wafer’s locator notch. The edge inspection process focuses on the area near the wafer edge, an area that poses difficulty for traditional wafer frontside inspection technology due to its varied topography and process variation. Edge bevel inspection looks for defects on the side edge of a wafer. Edge bead removal and edge exclusion metrology involve a topside surface measurement required exclusively in the lithography process, primarily to determine if wafers have been properly aligned for the edge exclusion region. The primary reason for wafer backside inspection is to determine if contamination has been created that may spread throughout the wafer fab. For instance, it is critical that the wafer backside be free of defects prior to the EUV lithography process to prevent focus and exposure problems on the wafer frontside.

Our materials characterization products include systems that are used to monitor the physical, optical, and material characteristics of discrete electronic industry, opto-electronic, HB-LED (high brightness LEDs), solar PV (solar photovoltaics), compound semiconductor, strained silicon and silicon-on-insulator (“SOI”) devices, including composition, crystal structure, layer thickness, dopant concentration, bulk contamination and electron mobility. Adding to these capabilities are the FAaST® and CnCV® product lines. The FAaST system is a versatile, non-contact electrical metrology platform, with an option to combine micro and macro corona-Kelvin technologies together with digital surface photovoltage (SPV). The CnCV product line enables wafer-level characterization of wide-bandgap materials without test device fabrication, reducing time and cost.

We have a broad portfolio of products for materials characterization including photoluminescence mapping and Fourier Transform Infrared (“FTIR”) spectroscope in automated and manual systems for substrate quality and epitaxial thickness metrology. These products are now complimented by the MBIR product line of Infra-Red OCD and materials analysis products. The MBIR system is an in-line, non-destructive infrared reflectometry system that enables critical process control of high aspect ratio structures, films and epitaxial structures. The NanoSpec® line supports thin film measurement across all applications in both low volume production and research applications.

Macro Defect Inspection. Chip manufacturers deploy advanced macro defect inspection throughout the production line to monitor key process steps, gather process-enhancing information and ultimately, lower manufacturing costs. Field-established tools such as the F30™, NSX®, Firefly®, and the latest Dragonfly® G3 inspection systems are found in the wafer fab (front-end) and packaging (back-end) facilities around the world. These high-speed tools incorporate features such as wafer-less recipe creation, tool-to-tool correlation and multiple inspection resolutions. Using Discover® yield management software, the vast amounts of data gathered through automated inspection can be analyzed and classified to determine trends and locate root causes that directly affect yield.

Automated Defect Classification and Pattern Analysis. Automating the defect detection and classification process is best done by a system that can mimic, or even extend, the response of the human eye, but at a much higher speed, with higher resolution and more consistency. To do this, our systems capture full-color whole wafer images using simultaneous dark and bright field illumination. The resulting bright and dark field images are compared to those from an “ideal” wafer having no defects using our Automated Defect Classification (“ADC”) software. When a difference is detected, its image is broken down into mathematical vectors that allow rapid and accurate comparison with a library of known classified defects stored in the tool’s database. Patented and proprietary enhancements of this approach enable very fast and highly repeatable image classification. The system is pre-programmed with an extensive library of local, global, and color defects and can also store a virtually unlimited amount of new defect classes. This allows customers to define defects based on their existing defect classification system, provides more reliable automated rework decisions and enables more accurate statistical process control data. Reviewing defects using ADC enables automated inspection systems to maintain their utilization for high throughput inspection. Using defect image files captured by automated inspection systems, operators are able to view high-resolution defect images to determine defects that cause catastrophic failure of a device, known as killer defects. Combining the review process with classifying defects enables faster analysis by grouping defects found together as one larger defect, a scratch for example, and defects of similar types across a wafer lot to be grouped based on size, repeating defects, and other user-defined specifications.

Yield Analysis. Using wafer maps, charts and graphs, the massive amounts of data gathered through automated inspection can be analyzed to determine trends across bumps, die, wafers and lots. This analysis may determine where a process variation or deviation has occurred, allowing process engineers to make corrections or enhancements to increase yields. Defect data analysis is performed to identify, analyze and locate the source of defects and other manufacturing process excursions. Using either a single wafer map or a composite map created from multiple wafer maps, this analysis enables identification of defect patterns and distribution. When combined with inspection data from inspection points placed strategically, this analysis may pinpoint the source of the defects so corrective action can be taken.

Opaque Film Metrology. The MetaPULSE® and EchoTM systems allow customers to simultaneously measure the thickness and other properties of up to six metal or non-metallic opaque film layers without physically contacting product wafers. PULSETM technology uses an ultra-fast laser to generate acoustic waves that pass down through a stack of opaque films

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such as those used in copper or aluminum interconnect processes, as well as the hard mask layer in 3D-NAND chips, sending back to the surface a reflected signal (echo) that indicates film thickness, density, and other process critical parameters. We believe we are a leader in providing systems that can measure opaque thin-film stacks non-destructively with the speed and accuracy semiconductor device manufacturers demand in order to achieve high yields with the latest fabrication processes. The technology is ideal for characterizing copper interconnect structures. The MetaPULSE and Echo systems, used for fast and accurate measurements of metal interconnect in front-end wafer fabs, have now been chosen by back-end manufacturers to perform system measurements in new process applications such as RF filters and modules, driven by the need for on-product metrology as feature sizes decrease and pattern densities increase.

Industrial, Scientific, and Research Markets ― 4D Technology®. The 4D business offers a line of interferometry systems for the measurement and inspection of high precision surfaces. End markets include high precision optics surfaces and components, aerospace and defense components, and unique research and scientific instrumentation that requires the unique high-speed results of the 4D systems.

Advanced Packaging Lithography. Our lithography steppers use projection optics to expose circuit patterns from a mask or reticle onto a substrate to expose images with optimal fidelity. These systems employ a bright light that is transmitted through a mask or reticle containing display circuit patterns. Substrates are aligned on the system and the mask is imaged through a projection lens onto photoresist material coated on the substrate. The substrate is then moved, or “stepped,” to a second position to expose an adjacent area. The system repeats the step and exposure process until the entire substrate is patterned. Once the exposure process has been completed, the substrate is developed with an alkali solution to reveal the underlying material. The imaged photoresist serves as a stencil barrier that allows for the processing of the underlying metal or insulating layers. The substrates then continue through the etching, stripping and deposition processes until multi-layer circuits are completed.

In order to deal with increased input/output (“I/O”) resulting from devices with enhanced functionality, increased power distribution efficiency, and higher frequency, IDMs and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (“OSATs”) facilities must incorporate lithography capabilities to create RDLs for their advanced packaging technologies. However, the associated substrates and processes are significantly different than those used in front-end wafer processing. For advanced packaging, the lithography system must perform in a completely different application, with significantly different operating parameters. For example, most packaging is an additive process, while wafer processing is subtractive, and thick films, rather than thin films, are used to enable the creation of features. In order for equipment to effectively function in this environment, it must overcome these challenges. Our JetStep® systems have been specifically designed to meet these challenges head on. The new JetStep X500 System is designed for rectangular substrates (panels), which when combined with user-selectable wavelength options, maximizes throughput while not limiting resolution when needed. High-fidelity optics are able to image the fine features required while at the same time achieving superior depth of field to minimize non-flatness that is typical for advanced packaging applications. On-the-fly auto focus and an innovative reticle management system improve yield and utilization. These features result in a revolutionary lithography system specifically designed to meet advanced packaging challenges.

Process Control Software. We provide a wide range of advanced process control solutions, which are designed to improve factory profitability, including run-to-run control, fault detection, classification and tool automation. We are a leading provider of process control software in the semiconductor industry. Advanced process control (“APC”) employs software to automatically detect or predict tool failure (fault detection) as well as calculate recipe settings for a process that will drive the yielded output to meet and exceed the target, despite variations in the incoming material and minor instabilities within the process equipment. Process control software enables the factory to increase capacity and yield while decreasing rework and scrap. It enables reduced production costs by lowering consumables, process engineering time and manufacturing cycle time.

Yield Management Software. Semiconductor manufacturers use yield management software (“YMS”) to obtain valuable process yield and equipment productivity information. The data necessary to generate productivity information comes from many different sources throughout the wafer fab: inspection and metrology systems, tool sensors, tool recipes, electrical tests and the fab environment. As the complexity and cost of manufacturing processes increase, the value of faster, better analysis to support critical manufacturing decisions grows. As a result, customers are demanding robust yield management systems that can analyze large, complex data sets quickly and effectively. Our fully integrated YMS is designed to analyze data from disparate sources and multiple sites to maximize productivity across the entire value chain.

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Customers

Over 190 customers purchased Onto Innovation tools or software in 2025. We support a diverse customer base in terms of both geographic location and type of device manufactured. Our customers are located in over 25 countries. The following table shows the revenue concentration at our top customers for the respective fiscal years:

Sales, Customer Service and Application Support

We believe that the capability for direct sales and support is beneficial for developing and maintaining close customer relationships and for rapidly responding to changing customer requirements. We provide local direct sales, service and application support through our worldwide offices located in the United States, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Singapore and Europe, and work with selected dealers and sales representatives on a more limited basis in various countries. Our applications team is composed of technically experienced sales engineers who are knowledgeable in the use of metrology systems generally and the unique features and advantages of our specific products. Supported by our technical applications team, our sales and support teams work closely with our customers to offer cost-effective solutions to complex measurement and process problems.

We believe that customer service and technical support for our systems are crucial factors that distinguish us from our competitors and are essential to building and maintaining close, long-term relationships with our customers. We generally provide a warranty for our products that ranges from twelve to fourteen months to cover defects in material and workmanship. We provide system support to our customers through factory technical support and globally deployed field service personnel. The factory technical support operations provide customers with telephonic technical support access, direct training programs, operating manuals and other technical support information to enable effective use of our metrology and measurement instruments and systems.

Competition

The global semiconductor equipment industry is intensely competitive and we have multiple established and potential competitors in the markets in which we participate. Our industry is driven by rapid technological adoption cycles, with new entrants from overseas and domestic sources competing for our customers’ business. Our ability to compete effectively depends upon our ability to continuously improve our existing products, applications and services, and our ability to develop new products, applications and services that meet constantly evolving customer requirements. In order to continuously improve and develop new products and maintain customer service and support centers worldwide, we believe that we will require significant resources; however, some of our competitors may have greater financial, research, engineering, manufacturing and marketing resources than we have.

In automated systems for the semiconductor industry, our principal competitors are KLA Corporation (“KLA”) and Nova Ltd. (formerly Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd.) (“Nova”) for thin film and critical dimension OCD metrology. Our principal competitors for advanced packaging inspection are KLA and Camtek Ltd. (“Camtek”). While the advanced packaging lithography market is served by various competitors, our primary competitors are Ushio, Inc. (“Ushio”) and Canon, Inc. (“Canon”). Our primary competitor for inspection in the panel market is GigaVis Co. Ltd. The primary competitor for our software products is PDF Solutions, Inc. (“PDF Solutions”) and our primary competitor for integrated metrology systems for the semiconductor industry is Nova. The opto-electronics, discrete device and industrial and scientific markets are addressed primarily by our material characterization and 4D systems, served by numerous competitors, of which no single competitor or group of competitors has established a majority position.

We believe that our competitive position in each of our markets is based on the ability of our products and services to address customer requirements related to numerous competitive factors. Competitive selections are based on many factors involving technological innovation, productivity, total cost of ownership of the system, including impact on end of line yield, price, product performance and throughput capability, quality, reliability and customer support.

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Manufacturing

Our manufacturing operations are in: Milpitas, California; Tucson, Arizona; Wilmington, Massachusetts; Bloomington, Minnesota; and at various contract manufacturers around the world. It is our strategy to outsource the assemblies that do not contain elements that we believe lead to a direct competitive advantage. Most of our automated and integrated products are currently manufactured at our Milpitas and Bloomington facilities. We currently do not expect our manufacturing operations to require additional major investments in capital equipment in the near term.

We manufacture key modular assemblies and integrated tools and make reasonable efforts to ensure that externally purchased parts or raw materials are available from multiple suppliers, if possible. Certain components, subassemblies and services necessary for the manufacture of our systems are obtained either from a sole supplier or limited group of suppliers. We also have long-term supply agreements with strategic suppliers for the supply of key assemblies for use in our products. For more information, please see “Part I, Item IA - Risk Factors - If we do not manage our supply chain effectively, our operating results may be adversely affected, and any increases in material, labor, supplier, logistics and other operating costs, or supply chain delays and shortages, could lower our margins or result in lost sales.”

Research and Development

We continue to invest in research and development to provide our customers with products that add value to their manufacturing processes and that provide a better and differentiated solution than our competitors so that our products stay in the forefront of current and future market demands. Whether it is for an advancement of current technology, yield and manufacturing improvement, enabling new end device technology, or the development of a new application in our core or emerging markets, we are committed to product excellence and longevity.

The markets for equipment and systems for manufacturing semiconductor devices and for performing OCD metrology, macro-defect inspection, advanced packaging lithography and thin film transparent and opaque process control metrology are characterized by continuous technological development and product innovations. We believe that the rapid and ongoing development of new products and enhancements to existing products are critical to our success. Accordingly, we devote a significant portion of our technical, management and financial resources to research and development programs.

Intellectual Property

We believe that our success will depend to a great degree upon innovation, technological expertise and our ability to adapt our products to new technology. As a result, we have a policy of seeking patents on inventions governing new products or technologies as part of our ongoing research, development, and manufacturing activities. As of January 3, 2026, we have been granted, or hold exclusive licenses to, 423 U.S. and foreign patents. The patents we own, jointly own or exclusively license have expiration dates ranging from 2026 to 2044. We also have 312 pending patent applications in the United States and other countries. Our patents and patent applications principally cover various aspects of metrology, macro-defect detection and classification, altered material characterization, lithography techniques, automation, AI, and machine learning.

To protect our intellectual property, we rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secret laws, contractual provisions and licenses and non-disclosure agreements. There can be no assurance that our intellectual property will provide us competitive advantage or that we will be able to fully protect our intellectual property. For more information, please see “Part I, Item IA - We may fail to adequately protect our intellectual property and, therefore, lose our competitive advantage.” Additionally, others may obtain patents or trademarks and assert them against us. We may find it necessary to engage in litigation regarding intellectual property rights or contractual rights, which will be costly and time consuming without guarantee that it will yield the result we seek. For more information, please see “Part I, Item IA - Protection of our intellectual property rights, or the efforts of third parties to enforce their own intellectual property rights against us, may result in costly and time-consuming litigation, substantial damages, lost product sales and/or the loss of important intellectual property rights.”

Human Capital and Talent

As of January 3, 2026, we had approximately 1,615 staff globally, 419 in research and development, 263 in operations, 194 in administration and 739 in sales, applications and service support. A large percentage of our employees have technical backgrounds and undergraduate and/or advanced degrees. Many of our employees have specialized skills and experience that are of value to our business, products and services. Our future success will depend, in large part, upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain our highly skilled, technical, operational and managerial team members, who are in great demand in our industry and business communities.

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Approximately 55% of our employees are located in the United States, 40% in Asia Pacific and 5% in Europe. None of our employees are represented by a union and we have never experienced a work stoppage because of union actions. We consider our employee relations to be favorable.

Purpose and Culture. All of our employees are expected to uphold the following core values which are foundational to our culture:

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Passion – ownership, pride and caring in our work

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Integrity – honesty, dependability, ethicality and accountability

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Collaboration – working together toward a common goal

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Results – meeting and exceeding goals, focusing on innovation and growth

These core values define the way we do business in our everyday actions and choices. We strive to create a respectful work environment characterized by mutual trust and the absence of intimidation, oppression, discrimination and exploitation.

Talent Development and Acquisition. Successful execution of our strategy is dependent on attracting, developing and retaining key employees and members of our management and leadership teams. The skills, experience and industry knowledge of our employees significantly benefit our operations and performance. We continuously evaluate, modify, and enhance our internal processes, tools and technologies to increase employee engagement, productivity, quality and efficiency. We offer employees access to internal and external training and development courses to support individual development. We review succession plans and focus on promoting internal talent to help grow our employees, both professionally and personally.

We strive to promote and cultivate an inclusive and diverse culture that welcomes and celebrates everyone without bias. In addition, we look to actively engage within our communities to foster and attain social equity.

Compensation Philosophy. Our compensation philosophy creates the framework and building blocks for our rewards and recognition programs. We have a pay-for-performance culture that ties compensation to the performance of the individual and the Company. We provide balanced compensation programs that focus on the following five key elements:

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Pay-for-performance - Reward those who achieve or exceed set goals and objectives, while also recognizing those making significant, impactful contributions;

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External market based - Pay levels that are competitive with respect to the labor market in which we compete for talent;

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Internal equity - Providing fair compensation programs within the Company;

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Fiscal responsibility - Providing programs which can be responsibly supported by our operations; and

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Legal compliance - Ensure compliance with the applicable laws of the states and countries in which we operate in all material respects.

Safety, Health and Wellness. We strive to provide an environment which is safe and where our employees can be productive. We have rigorous health and safety programs focused on awareness, recognition, risk assessment and management, as well as teamwork.

Our benefit plans are competitive and comprehensive. We provide each of our employees educational programs and initiatives focused on holistic wellness supporting nutritional, physical, emotional, mental and financial wellbeing.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Our stakeholders are essential to our business – shareholders, customers, suppliers, employees, communities as well as the environment and society. We are working to make our workforce more inclusive, our business more sustainable, and our communities more engaged by maintaining strong sustainability practices. Actions we have taken in pursuit of these commitments include the following environmental and social programs:

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Demanded excellence in our environmental performance.

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Demanded excellence in our quality performance, as demonstrated through our product and process qualification commitments, including ISO 9001 Quality Management;

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Set goals to reduce our environmental impact, including an increase in our use of renewable energy, a decrease in hazardous waste landfill, an increase in recycling materials and beneficial reuse, and a reduction in our freshwater

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usage;

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Committed to Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct and humane treatment of all at Onto Innovation both upstream and downstream. We have established policies and practices to ensure that: working conditions are safe; workers are treated with respect and dignity; and manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible.

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Produced systems responsibly by offering tool trade-in, refurbishment and technology upgrade programs;

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Provided corporate matching for employee donations to qualified nonprofit organizations; and

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Engaged in community service projects in our communities globally.

Compliance with Governmental Regulations

We are subject to international, federal, state and local regulations that are customary to businesses in the semiconductor capital equipment manufacturing industry. Such regulations include, but are not limited to:

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The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (“RoHS”), which restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment;

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General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which provides guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union, and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions in which we operate;

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The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), which prohibits companies and their individual officers from influencing foreign officials with any personal payments or rewards;

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Conflict minerals reporting, which imposes disclosure requirements regarding the use of “conflict” minerals mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries in products; and

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Export regulations.

U.S. export control regulations and policies have negatively impacted our ability to compete for the business of domestic customers in China, which has adversely affected our results of operations. For additional discussion of the impact of trade policies and export regulations on our competitive position, see “Part I, Item IA - Risk Factors - Tariffs, export regulations, and other market barriers have impacted and may continue to impact our ability to compete for the business of domestic customers in China and other jurisdictions, and our results of operations.”

Available Information

Our Internet website address is http://www.ontoinnovation.com. The information on our website is not incorporated into this Form 10-K. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K (and any amendments to those reports) are made available free of charge, on or through our Internet website, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). All filings we make with the SEC are also available free of charge via EDGAR through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. These filings may also be obtained through the SEC’s website. Documents that are not available through the SEC’s website may also be obtained by submitting an online request to the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

We also make available, free of charge, through our investor relations website at https://investors.ontoinnovation.com, our corporate governance guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, charters of the committees of our Board of Directors, and other information and materials, including information about how to contact our Board of Directors.

Investors and others should also note that we announce material financial information to our investors using our investor relations website, SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We use these channels as well as social media to communicate with the public about the Company, our products and services and other matters. It is possible that the information we post on social media could be deemed to be material information. Therefore, we encourage investors, the media, and others interested in the Company to review the information we post on the social media channels listed on our investor relations website.