semiconductor

According to DealSite, storage chip manufacturer SK Hynix is expanding the mass production of the sixth-generation high bandwidth memory HBM4. However, some industry insiders believe that the expansion speed is slower than expected, and some equipment orders planned for this year may be postponed until next year.Industry insiders stated that some equipment originally scheduled for delivery in the second half of this year has shown signs of delay, and subsequent order plans have not yet been clarified. An anonymous source indicated that some equipment originally planned for this year may be pushed to next year, and there is no data confirming whether the delivered equipment is operating at full capacity. The investment plans related to HBM4 for next year have not been specifically communicated to some partners, and this year's orders have largely been completed, but there are no clear signals of increased or decreased investment. Reports suggest that the direct correlation between the equipment investment schedule and product quality issues has not yet been confirmed.Liu Henggen, a researcher at Daxin Securities, believes that concerns about major customers' HBM4 quality issues leading to performance below expectations are excessive. There may have been some issues in the backend process, but they cannot be regarded as insurmountable risks, and it is not yet time to discuss bad compensation. There are also industry claims that, against the backdrop of rising prices for general memory, some HBM investments may shift towards general memory. SK Hynix plans to prioritize the introduction of DRAM production equipment into the first cleanroom of the Yongin cluster Y1 wafer fab, and the industry expects that the initial production line will adopt the sixth-generation 10-nanometer 1c process, with the new capacity being prioritized for general DRAM. Some opinions also suggest that changes in the schedule of certain backend equipment are insufficient to determine that HBM4 mass production is hindered, as SK Hynix has already supplied HBM4 16-layer samples to major customers.

On October 13, chip company Qualcomm announced in San Diego that a jury found Arm in violation of the long-standing architecture license agreement (ALA) with Qualcomm, failing to fulfill related commitments and deliberately disrupting Qualcomm's business.Qualcomm stated that, combined with the previous court victory, this outcome further indicates Arm's intention to harm Qualcomm and its ecosystem. Qualcomm called this result a victory for innovation and competition and will continue to develop and deliver semiconductor products, including the Oryon CPU.

On Tuesday, the global semiconductor sector faced a massive sell-off, with the decline intensifying. The trigger was Broadcom CEO Hock Tan stating that AI investments have a "casino-like" nature. He mentioned in Singapore on Monday that many investors do not even know what they are investing in and that investors have set extremely high expectations, only to find that it is just like being in a casino.The world's two largest memory chip manufacturers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, saw their stock prices plunge by 8.8% and 9.2% at one point during the morning session, dragging down South Korea's main stock index by 7%. The two companies account for about half of the weight in the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, and their stock prices have cumulatively dropped by about 15% over the past five days. The Taiwan Weighted Stock Index, dominated by chip stocks, fell by 2.5%, with TSMC down 2%; Micron Technology dropped nearly 4% overnight, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index fell by 2.7%.

According to CoinGlass data, in the past 24 hours, 10 exchanges have liquidated approximately $803 million in leveraged positions, with long positions accounting for $694 million, representing 86%, affecting a total of 172,100 traders. About $595 million, nearly three-quarters of the total for the day, was liquidated in the last 12 hours, as the South Korean KOSPI index fell by more than 6%, and Bitcoin briefly dropped below $81,000. The largest single liquidation was a $9.65 million Bitcoin long position on Binance, which was forcibly closed at around $81,773, with Binance accounting for half of the total liquidation volume.Bitcoin topped the list with $181 million in liquidations, followed closely by Ethereum with $178 million, despite its market capitalization being much smaller than Bitcoin's; SOL positions lost $60 million, ZEC $24 million, and NEAR $22 million. Stock-related contracts then made the list, with perpetual contracts tracking U.S. storage chip manufacturer SanDisk liquidating $19.09 million, slightly above HYPE's $19.04 million and XRP's $18.78 million. These perpetual contracts allow traders to bet on stock prices without an expiration date on cryptocurrency exchanges, with contracts for SK Hynix, Micron, and the triple-leveraged U.S. semiconductor ETF SOXL also appearing on the heatmap, with SOXL liquidating $7.21 million.The aforementioned losses coincided with a sell-off in the Seoul market, where Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each fell by about 8%, as the market worried about AI-related valuations and competition from Chinese storage chip manufacturers.

Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML is expected to announce its Q3 financial report on October 14. Driven by demand for AI chips, the market anticipates significant growth in revenue and profits compared to the same period in 2025. Wall Street analysts estimate Q3 revenue at 11.73 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 55%; earnings per share are projected to be 10.76 euros, nearly doubling from 5.49 euros in Q3 2025.ASML's Q2 revenue was 9.3 billion euros, higher than 7.7 billion euros in the same period of 2025, with net profit increasing from 2.3 billion euros to 2.9 billion euros. The company estimates Q3 revenue to be between 11 billion and 12 billion euros, with a gross margin of 55% to 57%, and has raised its full-year revenue outlook to between 43 billion and 45 billion euros.ASML is the only manufacturer in the world that commercializes extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment. Foundries such as TSMC, Intel, and Samsung rely on its equipment to manufacture advanced AI processors, and the company is also developing the next generation of High-NA EUV. Intel has processed over 1 million wafers using this equipment in research, testing, and manufacturing, while Samsung plans to introduce it into advanced DRAM mass production by 2028. The market expects ASML to increase the capacity of its existing EUV systems by about 30% by 2027.

Navitas Semiconductor announced a collaboration with NVIDIA (NVDA.O) to develop an 800V to 12V power conversion board for next-generation AI infrastructure.

According to Gate market data, U.S. stocks in the semiconductor, storage, and optical communication sectors rose broadly before the market opened on Monday.In the semiconductor sector, Lam Research (LRCX) rose 0.21%, Applied Materials (AMAT) rose 0.21%, Arm (ARM) rose 0.7%; in the storage sector, Micron Technology (MU) rose 0.03%, Western Digital (WDC) rose 1.62%, SanDisk (SNDK) rose 0.87%, Seagate Technology (STX) rose 1.56%.In the optical communication concept stocks, Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) rose 1.45%, Coherent (COHR) rose 0.88%, Credo (CRDO) rose 1.44%, Lumentum (LITE) rose 0.88%, Nokia (NOK) rose 0.19%, Astera (ALAB) rose 1.88%.

According to Gate market data, U.S. stock night trading chip stocks collectively strengthened, with SOXL, the three times leveraged semiconductor ETF from Direxion, rising over 9%, Arm rising 4%, AMD and Intel rising over 3%, SanDisk rising 2.8%, SK Hynix rising 2.7%, Broadcom rising 1.6%, NVIDIA rising 1.5%, and Micron Technology rising 1.4%.

JPMorgan analysts stated that the recent pullback in global AI trading has improved investors' positions, making valuations more attractive, which may drive investors to reposition, especially in the semiconductor stock sector. JPMorgan pointed out that sustained strong earnings performance and evidence of AI commercialization will support investors' renewed focus on this sector.

According to a report by South Korea's Small and Medium Business News on September 28, industry insiders stated that SK Hynix has initiated the foundational engineering required for establishing a semiconductor factory in the Tohoku region of Japan. One insider mentioned that it is still unclear whether the project will be an independent factory or a joint venture with Kioxia, but local groundwork is underway, and SK Hynix has also requested domestic component suppliers in South Korea to expand their supply.The report noted that as of a month ago, SK Hynix's stance on building a memory semiconductor factory in Japan was still "under research," and they stated that "there are no specific decisions." In response to this news, SK Hynix indicated that the Japanese memory semiconductor factory is still in the research phase, with no further advancements at this time.The report also mentioned that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stated in August this year that they are studying the establishment of a joint venture memory semiconductor factory in Japan, with the Tohoku region subsequently seen as a strong candidate. The Tohoku region of Japan and Iwate Prefecture have gathered semiconductor and material component companies such as Kioxia's Kitakami factory, Japan Semiconductor, Ancor Technology, Denso, and Tokyo Electron.

According to BBX data, last weekend, publicly listed companies in the U.S. and European stock markets disclosed the latest developments in digital asset allocation and treasury strategy adjustments. The core information is as follows:Morgan Stanley's ETF increased its holdings by nearly 43 Bitcoin, with a total holding value of $779 million: On-chain tracking data shows that Wall Street investment banking giant Morgan Stanley withdrew 42.979 Bitcoin from its subsidiary's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund MSBT on Saturday, extracting from the Coinbase Prime hot wallet address, valued at approximately $3.6 million based on the price at the time of withdrawal. Following this increase, Morgan Stanley's total Bitcoin holdings have now reached 9,261 BTC, with a total holding value of about $779 million.French semiconductor listed company Sequans liquidated 314 BTC, completely exiting its Bitcoin reserve strategy: French well-known semiconductor and IoT chip design listed company Sequans Communications disclosed that it has fully sold the 314 Bitcoin held on its balance sheet. This liquidation marks the company's official termination and complete exit from the previously established Bitcoin corporate treasury reserve strategy, and in the future, it will refocus its funds and liquidity on its core semiconductor business.

French semiconductor company Sequans Communications has sold its last 314 bitcoins, completing its exit from the bitcoin reserve strategy, having previously held over 3,200 BTC. Sequans stated that this exit was conducted after the redemption of convertible bonds completed in May, allowing it to refocus on its core cellular IoT and software-defined radio business.Sequans CEO Georges Karam stated that the company used the proceeds from the bitcoin sales to pay off convertible bonds and strengthen its balance sheet. Currently, Sequans holds no cryptocurrency and has no outstanding debts other than government-funded R&D obligations. Sequans launched its bitcoin reserve strategy in June 2025, announcing a $384 million equity security and convertible secured bond issuance, with Karam at the time calling bitcoin a primary asset and an attractive long-term investment.The company began to reduce its holdings less than six months later, selling 970 BTC in November to redeem half of the convertible bonds. By May 2026, Sequans indicated that it would no longer pursue the reserve strategy and would gradually liquidate the remaining bitcoins. During the 2026 crypto bear market, an increasing number of digital asset reserve companies abandoned or scaled back their accumulation strategies. VanEck's head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel, noted at the end of July that at least nine companies had completely liquidated or abandoned their bitcoin and cryptocurrency reserve strategies in 2026.

Frank Heemskerk, Executive Vice President of the Dutch lithography machine company ASML, stated that the company currently does not sell any chip manufacturing equipment on the European continent. He said, "We are not selling anything in Europe at all. This is because there has been no investment in Europe, and there are no new chip factories being built here."Data shows that in the second quarter of this year, Europe's contribution to ASML's net system sales was zero, and by 2025, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will account for 1%. In the first half of the year, South Korea was the company's largest market for equipment. Heemskerk stated that other countries are rolling out the red carpet to invite investment in factory construction, and currently about a quarter of ASML's R&D work is conducted in the United States.The European Union is reforming the "Chip Act," which will take effect in 2023. In May of this year, ASML signed an agreement with Tata Electronics of India to assist India in building semiconductor factories.

Gate gStocks has shown active performance on the gainers list, with semiconductor and technology-related assets leading the rise. According to the latest market data from Gate, Intel's 2x long ETF (INTWG/USDT) has risen 15.73% in 24 hours, currently priced at $32.81; Arm Technology (ARMG/USDT) has seen a 14.03% increase in 24 hours, currently priced at $323.73; the 3x long semiconductor ETF (SOXLG/USDT) has risen 12.96% in 24 hours, currently priced at $143.48.Gate gStocks adopts a 1:1 fully-backed native stock reserve mechanism, where each tokenized security corresponds to an equal amount of native stock as underlying asset support. It supports 24/7 trading, unified account management, and a minimum investment of 1 USDT, along with fractional share trading. Users can participate more flexibly in global popular stock investments, achieving a one-stop allocation of digital assets and traditional securities. As the tokenized securities ecosystem continues to enrich, Gate gStocks will keep expanding more quality stocks and ETF assets, providing users with a more diverse range of global asset allocation options.

UBS strategists pointed out that Meta's new consumer-facing AI entity, Muse, is very popular, indicating that the demand for products in the AI supply chain will increase. The strategists stated that the competition in the AI product sector is fierce, which will drive the demand for computing power and AI infrastructure, benefiting leading companies in the semiconductor and hardware industries.

According to an exclusive report from Late Auto, the chip subsidiary of Li Auto is advancing its first round of external financing, with a pre-investment valuation of approximately 15 billion yuan, planning to raise several billion yuan. Business registration information shows that Mach Intelligent Cores Limited was established in Hong Kong on July 14, and on August 4, it fully established Shanghai Mach Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., with Li Auto's CTO Xie Yan serving as the legal representative; a few days later, it also fully established Shanghai Mach Heart Technology Co., Ltd., with the legal representative being Li Auto's co-secretary Wang Yang.Li Auto's self-developed chip team consists of about 200 people, mainly engaged in AI computing architecture, chip design, and related software development, while advancing two types of self-developed chip projects for vehicles and the cloud. Its first self-developed chip, Mach M100, has entered mass production and is equipped in several new or updated models launched this year; another cloud inference chip is under development, also using a data flow architecture. In the first half of this year, financing in the domestic semiconductor sector amounted to approximately 162.7 billion yuan, with AI computing being one of the key areas for funding. For reference, NIO's chip subsidiary Anhui Shenji completed its first round of financing of 2.257 billion yuan in February this year, with a post-investment valuation of nearly 10 billion yuan.

According to Gate market data, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose by 4%. Nvidia increased by 2.3%, Qualcomm rose by 8%, ASML went up by 2.05%, and Intel surged by 11.9%.

TSMC's 2-nanometer N2 mass production marks the transition of advanced semiconductor processes from FinFET to GAA generation. Industry analysts point out that with the simultaneous increase in process complexity, CMP track counts, wafer monitoring frequency, and material specifications, the demand for equipment, CMP consumables, reclaimed wafers, and advanced materials is rising, providing growth opportunities for suppliers like Zhongsha, Shengyang Semiconductor, Xinying Materials, and Songsheng. TSMC's N2 adopts nanosheet GAA technology, which can improve performance by 10% to 15% at the same power consumption compared to N3E, or reduce power consumption by 25% to 30% at the same speed, with chip density increasing by over 15%.In Zhongsha's largest customer Diamond Disk business, advanced processes account for 63%, with N3 and N2 each accounting for 22%, and 1.4 nanometers already shipped in small quantities; after N3 enters N2, the value of CMP content increases by 10% to 15%. Shengyang Semiconductor's monthly production capacity for reclaimed wafers is adjusted to 1.1 to 1.2 million pieces by the end of 2026, with a capital expenditure budget of 4.82 billion yuan for 2026, and it is estimated that the compound annual growth rate for reclaimed wafer expansion from 2025 to 2029 will reach 25% to 30%. Xinying Materials' core products Rinse, BARC, and EBR are expected to see shipments rise seasonally as N2 capacity ramps up, while Songsheng's semiconductor revenue accounted for 66% in the first half of the year, with a year-on-year increase of about 25%, and TSMC-related revenue increased by about 170% year-on-year.

A survey conducted by Bank of America (BofA) from September 4 to 10 showed that 53% of global fund managers consider "going long on global semiconductors" to be the most crowded trade, marking the fourth consecutive month this trade has held the top position.Despite this, 33% of respondents believe that the related companies are over-invested, the highest recorded proportion to date. "Shorting government bonds" has risen to second place for the first time, with 18% of respondents listing it as the most crowded trade. Only 7% of respondents believe that "going long on the Magnificent 7" is the most crowded.Previously, this trade had been in the top position for 23 consecutive months from 2023 to 2025, peaking at around 70% in June 2024. Semiconductor stocks continue to attract investor attention.