semiconductors

According to a report by Reuters, reprinted by Nikkei Asia, the union representing employees at Micron Technology's Taoyuan plant in Taiwan announced on Wednesday that it has obtained authorization for a strike, with the focus of the dispute being the company's bonus plan. The union stated that 1,994 members voted in favor of the strike, accounting for 99% of the voters, while details such as the timing of the strike are still under discussion. Micron has approximately 15,000 employees in Taiwan, with independent unions in Taoyuan and Taichung, and the two unions together represent over 80% of Micron's employees in Taiwan. Micron Taiwan is the company's largest manufacturing base.Taiwan is a key production site for Micron's DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, with related chips being important components for AI servers. Mediation with the Taoyuan union did not reach an agreement in September, and the Taichung union is still in negotiations. In September, Micron announced that it would distribute bonuses for the fiscal year 2026 to over 60,000 employees worldwide, stating that the company had experienced an "extraordinary year," with Taiwanese employees receiving a cash bonus of 1 million New Taiwan Dollars, approximately 31,400 US dollars. The Taoyuan union stated that the plan did not address the request for a permanent profit-sharing mechanism and criticized Micron for announcing the bonuses without first reaching an agreement with the union during the mediation period.

According to Gate market data, the stock price of the American semiconductor company Wolfspeed rose 27% after hours, following the announcement of a $1.5 billion loan commitment.

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, due to the growing demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks, European semiconductor companies' stock prices have generally risen. Micron Technology reported strong quarterly results, and ASML and ASM International's stock prices rose by 2.3% and 4.1%, respectively.BE Semiconductor Industries rose by 2.6%, Infineon Technologies rose by 4.6%, and STMicroelectronics rose by 2.7%.

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.

Samsung Electronics hired former Director of the Foreign Exchange System Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Lee Hee-kun, for its IR team as an executive last month. Lee Hee-kun has held positions such as Director of the Foreign Exchange System Division and Director of the Capital Market Policy Division, responsible for foreign exchange systems and overseas investment responses. In April this year, he participated in the work of including South Korea in the World Government Bond Index and received special recognition. He is expected to be responsible for responding to overseas investors and the global capital market.SK Hynix hired former Director of the Strategic Economic Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Jeong Yu-jin, as the Vice President under the Communications Division last month. Jeong Yu-jin has served as the Director of the Climate and Environment Budget Division, Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Director of the Foreign Exchange System Division, and Director of the Foreign Exchange Fund Division. Both companies are advancing production investments in the United States, with Samsung Electronics planning to invest $37 billion to build a foundry in Taylor, Texas, and SK Hynix planning to invest $4 billion to build an advanced packaging factory in Indiana.

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.

On September 17, WEEX TradFi market data showed that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, and the three major U.S. stock indices closed lower. After the interest rate hike expectations were realized, funds flowed back into the AI chip and optical communication sectors, with mixed performance in the storage sector. Specifically, chip stocks generally rose, with INTC up 4.03%, AMD up 1.65%, and NVDA up 0.82%; optical modules generally rose, with LITE up 9.59%, COHR up 6.92%, MRVL up 3.61%, and NOK up 3.05%; the storage sector showed divergence, with STX up 1.47%, WDC up 1.22%, MU down 0.11%, and SNDK down 0.71%.WEEX Labs believes that while the index is under pressure, the optical communication and some chip sectors are recovering in parallel, indicating that after the interest rate hike, funds are more willing to trade the oversold AI hardware sector, and the structural divergence is more noteworthy than the index direction. Today's focus is on the interest rate path pricing after the dot plot and whether the transaction in optical modules can turn the rebound into a trend.

According to foreign media reports, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rejected a prepayment proposal for electricity bills put forward by the Korea Electric Power Corporation. The proposal originally required the two companies to pay electricity bills in advance to fund the construction of the power grid for a new technology cluster. Utility companies across Asia are struggling to keep up with the growing demand from the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries due to tight funding.The Korea Electric Power Corporation's proposal is estimated by local media to total 250 trillion won, equivalent to five years' worth of electricity bills. A spokesperson for the Korea Electric Power Corporation stated via text message, "The two companies ultimately rejected the proposal from the Korea Electric Power Corporation." According to local media reports, the two chip manufacturers are concerned about the uncertainty of whether the current semiconductor boom can be sustained over the next five years.

On September 10, U.S. stocks closed with all three major indices falling, marking the fourth consecutive trading day of declines; Brent crude oil briefly touched around $108, U.S. Treasury yields rose, suppressing risk appetite; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell about 2.66%. In terms of concept stocks, most sectors such as chips, optical modules, and storage retreated, with the seven giants showing divergence: Apple (AAPL) rose 3.56%, Alphabet slightly increased, Microsoft was nearly flat, while others fell. In the energy sector, XOM rose about 0.61%, with some energy stocks resisting declines driven by oil prices.WEEX Labs believes that the rise of AAPL indicates that funds are still willing to invest in the new product cycle despite macro headwinds; investors need to closely monitor the August CPI data released today, which is the macro highlight of the week and will directly impact next week's interest rate pricing and market reactions. Trade stocks and gold using WEEX TradFi, and you can also participate in daily egg hunts, with a 100% prize rate, winning up to 10,000 USDT in position airdrops.

Micron Technology announced on Friday that its direct labor employees in Taiwan will receive a total bonus for the fiscal year 2026 equivalent to 35 to 68 months of salary, with a minimum cash compensation of 1.7 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 53,809.39 USD).Employees in Taiwan who joined before August 29, 2025, will receive a cash bonus of 1 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 31,652.58 USD) for the fiscal year 2026. This announcement comes after union members representing about two-thirds of Micron's employees in Taiwan generally supported a strike.