Lam Research, KLA Corp. among firms impacted if US bans selling chip equipment to China
Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) are likely to be among the companies most affected if the U.S. Department of Commerce bans companies from selling advanced equipment to make semiconductors to Chinese firms, according to The Information.




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The news outlet, which first reported the potential ban, citing two people familiar with the conversations, would expand upon an existing ban that the U.S. has in place which covers Chinese chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. 
This proposed expansion could impact several other Chinese state-owned companies as well, including Hua Hong Semiconductor, ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp.
Applied Materials (AMAT), Lam Research (LRCX) and KLA Corp. (KLAC) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shares of all three chip equipment makers were down in early Monday trading, led by a 4.5% decline in Lam Research (LRCX).
The news outlet added that the potential ban is in the "early stages" and could take months before it is written into a draft.
The ban would not be a complete ban and could allow for the sale of certain tools, the report added.
U.S. officials are also looking to persuade other countries that have companies that make chip making tools, including the Netherlands and Japan, the news outlet added.
Earlier this month, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported that global chip sales rose 1.1% in March from February, to $50.6 billion, including "better than feared" wafer fab equipment sales from Applied Materials (AMAT), Lam Research (LRCX) and KLA Corp. (KLAC).