Hong Kong stock concept tracking | NVIDIA urgently chasing upstream chips Testing equipment companies are optimistic (with concept stocks)
NVIDIA urgently chases upstream chips, ASE Technology Holding and Unimicron Corporation have a major outbreak in operations, with a doubling of fourth-quarter order volume. The supply chain is optimistic about NVIDIA's super AI chip, with the opportunity to exceed one million shipments by 2025. ASE Technology Holding and Unimicron Corporation have become the two big winners in packaging and testing. ASM Pacific Technology (ASMPT), as a global leader in semiconductor packaging equipment, is favored by institutions for its leading position in the packaging equipment industry
On June 24th, it was reported that NVIDIA's GB200 and B-series artificial intelligence chips, built with the new Blackwell architecture, have been widely adopted by customers, leading to a situation of high demand and short supply. Following NVIDIA's significant increase in wafer production at TSMC, the rush for orders has spread to backend testing factories. Both Unimicron and KYEC have experienced a surge in operations, with fourth-quarter related orders doubling.
Unimicron has a policy of not commenting on individual customer and order trends. KYEC stated that while current capacity utilization is indeed high, they do not comment on individual customers. Insider sources revealed that KYEC has received a surge in orders from NVIDIA, prompting internal mobilization to meet the demand by reallocating more capacity.
Industry analysts believe that with the news of NVIDIA increasing wafer production at TSMC, there will be a proportional increase in demand for backend testing. TSMC's performance will reflect this increase first, followed by the backend testing factories.
A recent report by a research firm indicated that there is optimism in the supply chain for NVIDIA's GB200 super AI chip built with the Blackwell architecture, with a chance to exceed a shipment volume of one million units by 2025. With TSMC being the exclusive foundry for NVIDIA chips, Unimicron and KYEC are seen as the two big winners in backend testing.
Industry analysis suggests that the testing schedule for NVIDIA's GB200 and B-series AI chips built with the Blackwell architecture is significantly longer than the previous H-series, requiring four consecutive processes including Final Test, Burn-in aging test, returning to FT test, and finally undergoing SLT system-level testing. The extended testing time is expected to have a positive impact on the average selling price (ASP) and gross margin of related subcontractors, thereby boosting the profit performance of Unimicron and KYEC.
Companies related to backend testing equipment:
ASM Pacific Technology (00522): As a global leader in semiconductor packaging equipment, ASMPT is well-regarded for its leading position in the packaging equipment industry and the growth potential brought by downstream computing applications. In terms of business segments, the SEMI business segment had a revenue of HKD 6.365 billion in 2023, accounting for 43.82% of the total revenue, while the SMT business segment had a revenue of HKD 8.332 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 10%, accounting for 56.18% of the total revenue. On the order side, the SEMI segment led the recovery in 23Q4 and continued to see a sequential increase in 24Q1. The incremental demand for advanced packaging equipment brought by computing applications is expected to become a major growth driver for the company