Foundry & Advanced Packaging

GlobalFoundries announced FDX Fusion, a next-generation FD-SOI platform to be developed and manufactured in Dresden for highly integrated, energy-efficient Physical AI chips spanning sensing, compute, control and connectivity functions. The platform blends seven nanometer class digital performance with advanced RF, analog and embedded memory on a single chip aimed at edge and automotive, industrial and consumer AI systems. The launch fits GlobalFoundries' broader shift away from weaker smart mobile demand toward automotive, industrial, communications and AI applications, though it does not immediately change the near term risk that higher investment and oversubscribed niches like SiGe could still coexist with only high 80s percent fab utilization. Among recent announcements, a US$2 billion, five year silicon interposer deal with TSMC reinforces GlobalFoundries' role in AI hardware supply alongside FDX Fusion, with the Dresden FDX roadmap and Malta advanced packaging capacity sitting squarely against the key catalyst of moving its revenue mix toward higher value, AI linked processes. GlobalFoundries' narrative projects $10.4 billion revenue and $1.7 billion earnings by 2029, requiring 14.5% yearly revenue growth and a roughly $1.0 billion earnings increase from $716.0 million today, while the most optimistic analysts already assumed about US$11.7 billion of revenue and US$2.3 billion of earnings by 2029.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported record Q3 2026 revenue of about NT$1.49t, with September alone at NT$511.86b, driven by demand for chips used in AI workloads. Management highlighted advanced packaging services for AI accelerators as a key contributor to the quarter, and said leading edge capacity is fully booked through 2026. TSMC also agreed a multi year, US$2b silicon interposer supply arrangement with GlobalFoundries that includes the first U.S.-based silicon interposer production for its packaging, extending its CoWoS packaging supply chain into the United States and spreading manufacturing risk. The company is supporting a US$64b capex plan, and investors will watch whether it can ease advanced packaging constraints and how much of that spend translates into stable utilization and revenue progress through and after the Malta ramp toward 2028.

Tower Semiconductor and NewPhotonics announced high-volume shipments of laser-integrated, serviceable optical engine photonic integrated circuits developed for next-generation AI infrastructure interconnect. The products are built on Tower's PH18DA silicon photonics platform, which uses heterogeneously integrated indium phosphide components to place semiconductor optical amplifiers, modulators, lasers, and photodetectors on a single chip, and the companies say the integration reduces complexity and manufacturing variability while improving yield, reliability and time to market. Volume production today covers data rates from 800G to 1.6T, with 6.4T solutions planned for future volume manufacturing to serve both scale-out and scale-up architectures, and shipment of the 6.4T NPC505 chipsets is anticipated during the first half of 2027. NewPhotonics is the first player across the market to scale up production on Tower's PH18DA InP-on-silicon photonics platform, and Tower faces execution risks in scaling alongside it, along with competition from alternative architectures and other silicon photonics foundries. Tower's stock has rallied 99.97% in 2026, lifting its market capitalization to $25.85 billion, with an operating margin of 19.63%, a net margin of 16.94%, a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 91.11x, a forward P/E of 38.46x and a return on equity of 9.98%.

ASML Holding N.V. is scheduled to report third-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on Oct. 14, before market open, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate pegged at $13.18 billion in sales and $12.47 per share. The company has delivered a four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.91%, on average, and its Earnings ESP of +4.49% with a Zacks Rank #3 points to a likely earnings beat. During the quarter, ASML announced a collaboration with Xanadu Quantum Technologies Limited to advance lithography processes for photonic quantum hardware, expanded its strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics in High-NA EUV lithography, began construction of a second major industrial campus in the Brainport region of the Netherlands expected to cover approximately 350,000 square meters and accommodate up to 20,000 workplaces, and extended its collaboration with Intel, whose Panther Lake production uses ASML's High NA EUV lithography. Management expects 2026 advanced foundry Logic revenues to rise about 25%, Memory revenue to increase 75%, EUV revenues to grow roughly 45%, and DUV, metrology and inspection revenue to increase about 25%, with customer commitments extending into 2027 and 2028. China is expected to account for roughly 20% of 2026 sales, leaving ASML exposed to changes in export restrictions, while the stock trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 11.74 versus the industry average of 11.11.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of NT$1,270.38 billion, up 36.0%, with net income and diluted earnings per share both climbing 77.4%. Advanced technologies of 7-nanometer and smaller accounted for 77% of wafer revenue, with the 3-nanometer node at 30% and 5-nanometer at 33%, while gross margin reached 67.7%, operating margin 60.3%, and net profit 55.6% of revenue. September revenue came in at about NT$511.86 billion, up 54.6% year over year, following August's 53.3% gain, and first-nine-month 2026 revenue rose 41.1%. Management guided third-quarter revenue to between US$44.6 billion and US$45.8 billion, versus US$40.20 billion in the second quarter, but projected gross margin of 65% to 67% and operating margin of 56% to 58%, both below second-quarter levels, as the 2-nanometer process ramps up after contributing 3% of wafer revenue in the second quarter. At a forward P/E of 28.44 as of October 6, above its 5-year average of 21.78 and the sector's 23.74, TSMC trades at a premium, with EPS expected to rise 30.04% in 2027.

Wedbush Securities said Taiwan Semiconductor's stronger-than-expected third-quarter sales are a good sign for the chipmaker's fourth quarter. Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest contract chipmaker, reported record third-quarter revenue of NT$1.49T, or $46.71B, up 50% year-over-year, exceeding the LSEG SmartEstimate of NT$1.46T and the company's own guidance of $44.6B to $45.8B. Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson wrote in a note to clients that the result represents a slightly larger than typical beat, noting that upside last quarter totaled about 1%, and that with revenue ahead of the range and the exchange rate essentially in line with the 32.0 TWD/USD embedded in the outlook, gross margins will likely at least meet the 66% midpoint of TSMC's 65% to 67% guidance and more likely exceed his 66.0% estimate. Bryson, who has an Outperform rating on Taiwan Semiconductor and a NT$3,000 price target, added that given TSMC's near monopoly position in cutting edge fabrication, with all major AI paths currently reliant on TSMC, he continues to see the stock as one of the best and safest ways to invest in a future dominated by AI. Taiwan Semiconductor is scheduled to release its full third-quarter financial results and provide updated guidance on Oct. 15.

Samsung Electronics reported the most profitable quarter ever by any company at $80.2 billion, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company posted record third-quarter revenue of $46.7 billion, up 50% year over year. Samsung, the world's largest memory manufacturer, counts Qualcomm, Alphabet, Tesla, Advanced Micro Devices and Amazon among its main customers. TSMC, the world's largest manufacturer of AI chips, produces over 60% of all global contract chips and over 90% of advanced chips, with NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm, Intel, Apple and Broadcom among its customers. Earlier this week, SpaceX announced it will raise $40 billion in debt to buy NVIDIA chips as it scales its AI compute, with a payback period well under one year thanks to deals with Google and Anthropic. The results and the SpaceX debt raise suggest record capital expenditure on AI infrastructure will continue.

Asia Plus Securities, or ASPS, assesses that the Thai stock market has a chance of a temporary short-term recovery, supported by the yield on 10-year US government bonds falling from 5.34% to 5.23%, together with the WTI crude oil price easing to near 91 US dollars per barrel after President Donald Trump signalled that he would not yet take military action against Iran before the midterm elections on 3 November 2026. Meanwhile, the auction of 22 billion US dollars of 30-year US government bonds drew strong interest, with a bid-to-cover ratio as high as 2.54 times, above the historical average of 2.41 times. However, ASPS still advises investors to be cautious about long-term volatility, because senior Federal Reserve officials are still signalling a tight monetary policy stance to bring inflation down to the 2% target. It expects US September CPI inflation to rise to plus 3.6% year on year, from plus 3.4% in the previous month. On the AI hardware stock front, the sector faced short-term profit-taking, led by CoreWeave down 8%, Oracle down 6%, and Nvidia down 2.9%, after OpenAI reported annual revenue at the end of September of about 50 billion US dollars, below the market expectation of 68 billion US dollars, and cancelled the launch plan for its GPT-6.1 Astra model and slowed its plan to list the company on the stock exchange. Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, reported record-high third-quarter 2026 revenue of 1.49 trillion Taiwan dollars, above the market expectation of 1.46 trillion Taiwan dollars, driven by demand for advanced chips for AI-processing GPUs and CPUs, along with plans to raise chip production prices next year. As for the Thai stock index, it most recently fell 14 points, or 0.88%, to 1,570.61 points, pressured by the transport and logistics group, which dropped 2.80% after news of preparations to collect three tourist fees and taxes totalling 2,570 baht, combined with concerns over the September consumer confidence index, which fell for the first time in four months amid the flood crisis and diesel prices surging above 40 baht per litre. ASPS recommends a strategy of catching a relief rally in domestic play, tourism, and healthcare stocks, with five standout picks: DISNEY19, which is entering the high season for fourth-quarter earnings on the buzz around the blockbuster film Avengers: Doomsday; AAPL80, which benefits from the upcoming launch of its first foldable-screen smartphone; Bangkok Expressway and Metro Public Company Limited, or BEM, which has a high chance of winning the contract to operate the southern Purple Line electric train, combined with third-quarter 2026 earnings that are expected to hit the year's peak; Com Seven Public Company Limited, or COM7, whose third-quarter 2026 profit is expected to grow more than 30% year on year; and Bangkok Chain Hospital Public Company Limited, or BCH, whose second-half revenue from foreign patients is trending strongly higher, led by patients from the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates.

Applied Materials announced that the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering will join its EPIC Center in Silicon Valley as a research partner, with researchers working alongside Applied's scientists and engineers to shorten the time it takes to move semiconductor breakthroughs from research to commercialization. The collaboration will focus on 3D chip scaling, advanced packaging and the discovery of new materials for improving energy-efficient AI compute performance, and will complement UCLA's Semiconductor Hub, which Applied joined as a co-founding member earlier this year. Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, said the EPIC Center will convene the industry's top innovators to accelerate the path from breakthrough research to full-scale manufacturing, while Ah-Hyung "Alissa" Park, Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of UCLA Samueli, said the collaboration builds on the school's legacy of pioneering semiconductor research. UCLA researchers will gain access to advanced chipmaking tools so new ideas can be validated and tested in a commercial fab environment. Applied's EPIC Center, which the company describes as the largest-ever U.S. investment in advanced semiconductor equipment R&D, is on track to become operational in 2026.

Tesla and SpaceX have committed an initial $16.8 billion to Terafab, Elon Musk's plan to build one of the world's largest chip-making complexes in Grimes County, Texas, covering more than 100 million square feet and expected to start manufacturing chips by 2029. Intel Corp. joined the project in April, committing to design, make and package chips, and Musk has said the plant will use Intel's next-generation 14A process, a significant boost for an Intel foundry business that lost more than $10 billion at the operating level in 2025. Musk shut down speculation that Taiwan Semiconductor would help run the Texas plants, writing on X that Tesla and SpaceX will build and run the fab themselves, with TSMC at most given leased space inside the complex. The vertically integrated facility is designed to handle chip manufacturing, packaging and testing under one roof, with chips mostly built for edge computing and inference to power Tesla's Optimus robots and Cybercabs along with high-performance processors for SpaceX's planned space-based data centers. Investors positioned for the buildout could look to chip equipment makers such as ASML Holding, Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corp, packaging and testing players including Amkor Technology, ASE Technology and Teradyne, materials and utilities suppliers such as Linde and Entegris, power and electrical infrastructure names including Eaton, Vertiv, Quanta Services and GE Vernova, or semiconductor ETFs such as the VanEck Semiconductor ETF and iShares Semiconductor ETF.

Lynx Equity Strategies analyst KC Rajkumar expects the AI semiconductor rally to extend into year-end, with Nvidia, Micron Technology and Sandisk among the names leading the move. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index pulled back modestly Wednesday after four consecutive sessions of gains, but Rajkumar said the broader rally that began after the Federal Reserve's Sept. 15 meeting remains intact, with AI semiconductor stocks bought in waves as the sector shrugs off higher bond yields. Micron was the latest beneficiary, rising roughly 4% Wednesday despite a weaker broader market, after breaking out of its trading range in early September. On memory pricing, Samsung reported preliminary third-quarter operating profit up roughly ninefold year over year and Micron's August-quarter operating profit rose about 11%, while Micron management said supply-demand conditions in fiscal 2027 and 2028 should be significantly tighter than in fiscal 2026. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing reported third-quarter revenue growth of 51% year over year, above the high end of its guidance, which Rajkumar said could push TSMC's 2026 revenue growth from its guidance of slightly above 40% to at least the mid-40% range. Rajkumar added that AI semiconductors are emerging from a period of investor skepticism and are no longer the crowded trade they were several months ago, pointing to growing popularity of AI agents from Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic and stronger-than-expected AI-driven services at Accenture as signs demand is broadening.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has signed a $2 billion multi-year supply agreement with GlobalFoundries Inc to manufacture silicon interposers in the United States, sending GlobalFoundries shares up 4% in premarket trading on Thursday. Under the deal, GlobalFoundries will provide manufacturing services from its Malta, New York facility to support TSMC's Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate advanced packaging ecosystem, adding fabrication capacity at the site to scale advanced packaging solutions across multiple product generations while integrating embedded deep trench capacitor components. The partnership carries an initial five-year term with an underlying framework to expand production capacity over time as customer demand increases. The move addresses a critical bottleneck in the semiconductor supply chain, as high-performance computing and AI hardware increasingly rely on sophisticated packaging techniques to link memory and logic chips, with volume production at the Malta facility expected to begin ramping during the first half of 2028. For GlobalFoundries, the partnership validates its footprint in trusted U.S. manufacturing while positioning the foundry as an indispensable partner to the world's leading chipmaker.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said on October 8 that its third-quarter revenue soared to a record NT$1.49 trillion, or about $46.71 billion, jumping 50% from a year earlier and beating market expectations, driven by red-hot demand for chips used in artificial intelligence processing. Actual revenue also came in above TSMC's own guidance of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion given at its July earnings conference. For September alone, TSMC reported revenue rose 54.6% year on year to NT$511.86 billion. However, TSMC did not disclose further details or any business outlook in its brief monthly revenue filing. The company is scheduled to report full third-quarter results and financial statements next Thursday, October 15, when it will also unveil its business outlook and operating plans for the current quarter and the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, LSEG SmartEstimate projects that TSMC will report third-quarter net profit surging 64% year on year to NT$740.8 billion. In Taipei stock market trading today, TSMC shares closed down 1.35% ahead of the revenue figures, in line with the broader Taiwan market, which ended 0.99% lower.

Samsung Electronics reported third-quarter operating profit up nearly ninefold to 107.4 trillion won, or about 80.1 billion dollars, a record high, while revenue more than doubled. The figures still fell slightly short of the analyst average estimate. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, reported record third-quarter revenue of 1.49 trillion Taiwan dollars, or about 46.71 billion dollars, up 50% from a year earlier and above market expectations. LSEG SmartEstimate, which compiles estimates from 19 analysts, had forecast revenue of 1.46 trillion Taiwan dollars, compared with 989.92 billion Taiwan dollars a year earlier. Despite the record results, Samsung shares fell 2.4% in the South Korean stock market, and shares of suppliers in the Japanese market such as Tokyo Electron, Advantest and Ibiden also declined, amid concerns over how long AI investment reliant on rising debt financing can continue as global borrowing costs climb. Demand for high-bandwidth memory chips, or HBM, used with Nvidia Corp.'s AI accelerator chips has benefited Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. Counterpoint Research raised its forecast for third-quarter DRAM chip prices to a 10% to 20% rise from the previous quarter, up from 5% to 10%, after customers rushed orders. Analysts at Citigroup expect HBM4 chip prices to rise 100% to 150% next year, even though Citigroup cut its full-year profit estimates because of the stronger South Korean won. Analysts expect Samsung's chip business to post operating profit of 110 trillion won, with the company due to release full financial results on October 29.

Nvidia is evaluating glass substrate packaging solutions and working with German equipment maker SCHMID and other companies to advance related equipment development. It also hopes panel makers in South Korea, Japan, and elsewhere can complete glass substrate development within two years. SCHMID disclosed in its earnings call that it is jointly developing glass substrate equipment with core companies in the supply chains of Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, but technical difficulties remain in the metallization step for through-glass vias, and customer certification has not yet been completed. According to TrendForce analysis, TSMC's CoPoS will focus on 310 by 310 millimeter substrate sizes in the near term. 2026 is a critical verification period for equipment and material suppliers, pilot production is expected in 2027, and formal mass production will begin in the second half of 2028. Li Wenqi, general manager of Shanghai Yibu Semiconductor, said TSMC originally planned to start mass production this year, but recent information shows it has been postponed to 2028. Domestically, BOE Chairman Chen Yanshun said the company is preparing to invest in a mass production line for semiconductor glass substrate carriers. Its 20-layer large-size glass substrate sample has passed six semiconductor-grade reliability tests and has been sent to leading domestic AI chip makers. Lens Technology's wholly owned subsidiary Lens International signed a memorandum of cooperation with Intel. Woge Optoelectronics' Hubei Phase One production line with annual capacity of 100,000 square meters of through-glass via substrates will complete certification with multiple customers in the first half of 2026 and enter small-batch supply. Triumph Science and Technology is investing 150 million yuan in Bengbu to build a pilot line for advanced packaging glass with through-glass vias. TCL Technology is investing 500 million yuan to establish Shenzhen Yunqi New Materials, in which it holds a 51 percent stake. On the equipment side, Delphi Laser's panel-level glass substrate via equipment has already begun shipping. S.C New Energy Technology's dedicated bubble cleaning equipment for through-glass via glass substrates and fully automatic hole-filling electroplating equipment have completed full-process testing and begun shipping.

Constellation Brands shares fell after the maker of Modelo Especial and Corona Extra reaffirmed its comparable earnings per share forecast for the full year and announced the acquisition of SpikedAde, a vodka-based drink brand. SpaceX shares were lower as Elon Musk's company is in talks with banks and investors to raise $40 billion to buy chips from Nvidia, with Pacific Investment Management Co. and Apollo Global Management Inc. involved in the early-stage discussions that could end without a deal. Intel shares rose as CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company will continue working with Elon Musk on Terafab, after Musk responded on X to speculation that TSMC would play a larger role in the chip plant, saying, "we will build and run the fab."

Amkor Technology is sharply increasing capital spending to capture growth in advanced packaging, AI and data-center applications, with first-half 2026 capital expenditures of $688.4 million, up from $226.1 million a year earlier, and full-year 2026 CapEx guidance of $2.5-$3 billion. Most of that spending is targeted at facility expansion, including Arizona, while the remainder goes toward HDFO, test and other advanced packaging capacity. The investment is supported by improving demand: second-quarter revenues rose 26% year over year to $1.90 billion, gross margin expanded to 16.8% from 12%, factory utilization improved from the 50s into the 70s, and computing revenues hit a record, up 20% sequentially and expected to accelerate to nearly 30% in the third quarter on AI data center demand and the HDFO CPU ramp. Amkor's capital-intensive model carries risks, since new capacity adds depreciation and fixed costs, the company generally has limited backlog and sometimes invests without firm customer commitments, and customer-specific equipment may be hard to reuse if demand weakens; as of June 30 it also had $2.5 billion of debt and $1.47 billion of purchase obligations. Competition is intensifying, with Intel raising 2026 CapEx above $20 billion including packaging and targeting high-volume EMIB-T customer ramps in 2027, while GlobalFoundries expects 2026 CapEx at the high end of its 15%-20% range as it expands silicon photonics and advanced packaging capacity. The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects 2026 and 2027 revenues of $7.64 billion and $8.55 billion, respectively, and 2026 earnings of $2.60 per share, implying 73.3% year-over-year growth.

Global semiconductor sales surpassed $1 trillion through August for the first time in history, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported. Sales totaled $159.7 billion in August, up 8% sequentially from July's $147.9 billion and up 144.3% year over year from August 2025's $65.4 billion. SIA president and CEO Michael Robbins said the global market grew for the 18th consecutive month in August, with sales into the Americas, the Asia Pacific, and China driving strong and sustained year-to-year growth, and the association projects sales to hit more than $1.6 trillion by the end of 2026. The August figure followed an exceptional first half of 2026, when global semiconductor sales reached $403.3 billion in the second quarter and $298.5 billion in the first quarter, representing sequential increases of 33.1% and 25%, respectively. Against that backdrop, Zacks named four chip stocks with upside: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, Analog Devices, NVIDIA Corporation and MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc.

Aehr Test Systems has received approximately $6M in follow-on production orders from its lead hyperscale customer for package-level burn-in of that customer's next-generation AI processor. The orders cover additional Sonoma high-power test and burn-in systems, turnkey burn-in modules, device-specific sockets and software enhancements. The equipment will be deployed at an OSAT partner in Taiwan, with deliveries scheduled over the next six months.

Taiwan's stock market is emerging as a more compelling choice than South Korea's for investors looking to ride the artificial intelligence wave in the final stretch of 2026, after growth in the AI industry began spreading from chipmakers to other businesses across the supply chain. Taiwan's Taiex index has jumped roughly 72% since the start of 2026, the highest among more than 90 global equity indexes tracked by Bloomberg, while South Korea's KOSPI has gained about 63%, ranking second. In the third quarter, the Taiex outperformed the KOSPI by about 23 percentage points, the widest gap since the early 2000s, and earnings estimate upgrades for Taiwanese listed companies outpaced South Korea's for the first time since March 2025. Earnings estimates for companies in the Taiex were revised up by about 19% in the quarter ending in September, compared with an increase of about 15% for KOSPI companies. A Bank of America fund manager survey in September found that about 40% of respondents said they were overweight Taiwanese stocks relative to the benchmark, compared with 25% who held the same view on South Korean stocks. In the survey of 87 fund managers overseeing a combined 211 billion dollars in assets, 35% said Taiwan would be the Asian stock market to benefit most from AI going forward, while only 5% chose South Korea. A key factor is Taiwan's industrial structure, which is linked to the AI supply chain at many levels, from semiconductor design and manufacturing to chip packaging, networking systems and servers. South Korea's market, by contrast, still relies on just a few large chipmakers, particularly Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which fell between 19% and 33% in the three months ending in September after six straight quarters of gains. Societe Generale continues to favour Taiwanese stocks over South Korean ones, expecting the rise in memory chip prices to slow over the coming quarters before returning to normal in 2028 amid growing competition from Chinese producers. However, Peter Lee, a managing director at Citigroup, believes investors should start accumulating shares such as Samsung and SK Hynix, because the market may be underestimating demand for high-bandwidth memory chips, or HBM, in 2027. On valuations, Taiwan's market trades at about 18 times forward 12-month earnings estimates, above the KOSPI's roughly 5.5 times. And Taiwan's rally is not confined to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. alone. TSMC shares rose 2.9% in the quarter ending in September, their sixth straight quarterly gain, while about 10% of stocks in the Taiex have at least doubled since the start of the year, compared with just 4.1% of KOSPI stocks and 5.7% of stocks in Japan's Nikkei 225.

AT&S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG announced in late September 2026 an expanded collaboration with Marvell Technology to increase advanced IC substrate capacity for next-generation AI and cloud infrastructure. Marvell also affirmed a quarterly dividend of US$0.06 per share payable on October 29, 2026. The deeper manufacturing partnership gives Marvell greater access to complex packaging technologies that are increasingly critical for high-performance AI chips and data center hardware. The new AT&S capacity fits into Marvell's March 2026 plan to commit about US$1.0b in supplier prepayments and long term manufacturing agreements, an effort to lock in scarce substrates for AI optics and complex ICs. Marvell's narrative projects $30.4 billion revenue and $9.6 billion earnings by 2029, requiring 47.5% yearly revenue growth and a $7.0 billion earnings increase from $2.6 billion, while some optimistic analysts see about US$35.7b in 2029 revenue and US$10.1b in earnings.

Applied Materials announced expanded collaborations at its new US$5.00 billion EPIC Center, bringing in KIOXIA to advance next-generation memory and extending its longstanding partnership with BE Semiconductor Industries to co-develop advanced packaging and interconnect technologies for AI-focused chips. The twin push into cutting-edge memory and packaging research and development highlights Applied Materials' ambition to sit at the center of AI-era chip design and manufacturing innovation. The company said the new EPIC Center collaborations with KIOXIA and Besi look more like medium-term positioning than near-term revenue drivers, but they subtly shift the catalyst mix toward advanced packaging and 3D memory integration as critical proof points. The stock's valuation, a BIS settlement reminder on export controls, and concentration in a cyclical industry remain the key risks that could pressure sentiment if conditions change. Ten Simply Wall St Community fair value views span roughly US$279 to US$845 per share, showing how far apart individual estimates can be.

Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su said the company expects demand for its chips to remain exceptionally strong over the next several years, pointing to booming artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads while praising manufacturing partner TSMC for aggressively expanding capacity. Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Tuesday, Su predicted very high chip demand continuing for the next few years and said that even with increases in AMD's output, demand is outpacing supply. She said AMD has been able to increase supply through 2026 and will substantially increase it in 2027, adding that one goal of her Taiwan visit was to ensure the supply chain can scale CPU and GPU production to keep pace with rising AI demand. During the trip she met with Foxconn and is scheduled to meet TSMC as part of talks with local partners, and she said AMD is working closely with memory-chip manufacturers to secure adequate supplies ahead of a planned visit to South Korea, home to Samsung and SK Hynix. Su also urged leading artificial intelligence companies to cooperate on ensuring the technology causes no harm, and said AMD is now planning three to five years ahead.

Jim Cramer told a caller on the October 1 lightning round of Mad Money that he likes Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and advised buying the stock. The endorsement came as TSMC reported second-quarter revenue of $40.20 billion, up 33.7% year-over-year in U.S. dollar terms, with net income rising 77.4% to NT$706.56 billion and a gross margin of 67.7%. Advanced technologies at 7 nanometers and below generated 77% of wafer revenue, and August revenue reached approximately NT$514.81 billion, up 53.3% from a year earlier, bringing first-eight-month revenue up 39.3% to approximately NT$3.39 trillion. Management raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget to $60 billion to $64 billion, while warning that the initial 2-nanometer ramp will cut second-half gross margin by roughly 3 to 4 percentage points and that overseas factories will dilute margins by 2 to 3 points early on, potentially widening to 3 to 4 points. For the third quarter, the company guided to revenue of $44.6 billion to $45.8 billion and gross margin of 65% to 67%, below the second-quarter level despite higher expected sales.

Zacks Investment Research named Lam Research, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Marathon Petroleum as stocks to buy before third-quarter earnings, citing Technology and Energy as the two strongest sectors. S&P 500 earnings are set to rise 24.6% year over year on 11.6% higher revenues, the eighth straight quarter of double-digit growth, with Technology earnings expected up 43.3% and Energy up 114.3%. Semiconductor earnings are projected to jump 85.5% on 62.8% higher revenues, and Energy has drawn the largest upward revision since the quarter began on elevated oil prices tied to Persian Gulf disruptions, with Brent crude above $100 per barrel as of Oct. 5. Lam Research posted $6.72 billion in fiscal 2026 fourth-quarter revenues, up 30%, and guided September-quarter revenues to $8.1 billion plus or minus $400 million with adjusted EPS of $2.15 plus or minus 15 cents, ahead of its Oct. 21 report. TSMC guided third-quarter revenues of $44.6-$45.8 billion and gross margin of 65%-67%, with its report due Oct. 15, while Marathon Petroleum expects third-quarter crude throughput of 2.82 million barrels per day and 94% utilization ahead of its Nov. 3 report.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company shares touched intraday all-time highs on Monday after Elon Musk confirmed early-stage talks with the chipmaker about a potential collaboration on his Terafab semiconductor initiative. Musk responded on X over the weekend to a newsletter from tech journalist Tim Culpan, who wrote that TSMC is exploring ways to work with Terafab to help the startup chipmaker run its new semiconductor factories in Texas, saying, "Just discussions, but something may come of it." Terafab is Musk's plan to build a giant semiconductor factory to serve Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. US chip maker Intel, which joined Terafab back in April, was down roughly 2%. TSMC is the world's largest foundry, and its business has boomed on demand for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence, with the stock up about 60% year to date as the company expands in the US to manufacture chips for clients including Apple, Nvidia, and AMD.

GF Securities expects United Microelectronics to post stronger earnings per share over the next two years on a combination of stronger prices and margins, supported by rising orders from key clients that are lifting utilization rates at its foundry. Analyst Jeff Pu said 12-inch utilization should reach about 93% by end-2026 on strong DDIC volumes from Novatek and Samsung LSI at 22/28nm and Apple's Mac at 55/65nm, with upside from Sony's sensors, while 8-inch utilization should reach about 90% by end-2026 and full loading by 2H27 on intact demand for datacenter PMIC, MCU and embedded memory. Pricing momentum extends from 2H26 for selective customers into 1H27 at 10-30% across 12-inch and 8-inch, and into 2H27 where negotiations are ongoing, suggesting visibility extending into 2H27. GF Securities raised its EPS forecasts for the entirety of 2026 and 2027 by 2% and 8% respectively and maintained its Buy rating, with UMC expected to begin another growth phase in 2028 when it transitions to asset-light FinFET and optical full solutions, driven by Intel 2nm as a major inflection. Interposer and advanced packaging are expected to begin contributing during the second half of 2027, supported by silicon capacitor, DTC, hybrid bonding and controller-to-bonding integration. UMC shares were down 8% in pre-market trading on Monday, but the stock has surged 32% over the past month and more than 230% year-to-date.

Onto Innovation has emerged as a key beneficiary of the AI semiconductor investment cycle, with its stock jumping 125.6% in a year, roughly matching the Zacks Nanotechnology industry's 125.7% gain and outpacing the Zacks Computer and Technology sector and the S&P 500 composite, which rose 26% and 15.5%, respectively. The company reported record second-quarter revenue of $343.1 million, up 35.3% year over year and nearly 18% sequentially, with non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.93 versus $1.25 a year earlier, while backlog exceeded $1 billion for the first time. Management raised its second-half 2026 revenue, margin and EPS outlook, guiding third-quarter revenue of $380 to $400 million and expecting gross margin to expand by another 50 basis points in each of the third and fourth quarters, with operating margin improving 200 basis points to 31.5-32.5% in the third quarter and exceeding 33% by year-end. The company also raised its 2026 advanced-packaging growth outlook to at least 80% from more than 50% previously and now expects advanced-nodes revenue to grow more than 35% in 2026, up from about 25%, helped by its Dragonfly G5 platform and more than $200 million in Dragonfly orders from a single OSAT, mostly for 2027 delivery. In April 2026, Onto Innovation agreed to acquire a 27% stake in Rigaku Holdings for about $710 million, and it ended the second quarter with $1.88 billion in cash and short-term investments, though risks include customer concentration, with four customers accounting for 57.3% of first-half 2026 revenue, and a forward price/earnings multiple of 30.23X versus the industry's 5.83X.

Rapidus, which aims to mass-produce advanced semiconductors, announced on the 5th that it will partner with 17 semiconductor design-related companies in Japan and abroad, including Toshiba. The partners include Toshiba Information Systems, a Toshiba subsidiary, as well as Dai Nippon Printing, TOPPAN, and major U.S. semiconductor design firms Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems. The aim is to strengthen its support system spanning everything from the design to the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors in line with customer needs, thereby winning more orders. Going forward, it plans to work with its partners to support customers' semiconductor design and increase the volume of production contracted to Rapidus.

TSMC is considering building a new chip manufacturing plant in Texas, with expectations of adding several tens of billions of dollars in investment under a multi-year plan to expand its chipmaking business in the United States. Sources say the Texas project covers the construction of multiple chip plants, and if the investment goes ahead, each plant would cost at least 20 billion dollars. Previously, TSMC pledged to invest 265 billion dollars in Arizona, where several plants are currently under construction. The Texas investment depends on whether the U.S. government extends a tax credit measure for advanced manufacturing that is set to expire at the end of this year. The plan is still at an early stage and no details have been officially disclosed. TSMC is a key chip supplier to Nvidia and Apple, with revenue from wafer manufacturing in America accounting for more than 75% of its revenue from that business this year.