According to Zhitong Finance APP, against the backdrop of robust AI demand, downstream players are stepping up procurement, and delivery lead times for semiconductor equipment are rapidly lengthening. Traditionally, orders are negotiated 6 to 12 months before equipment introduction, but now they are being locked in directly three years ahead. It is reported that the five major equipment makers—Applied Materials, ASML, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron, and KLA—have entered the final stage of supply contracts for 2028, with some beginning talks for 2029. Some South Korean equipment companies are also helping global clients map out supply plans two to three years in advance. TSMC has raised its full-year 2026 capital expenditure to US$60–64 billion, a midpoint increase of 51.6% year-on-year, with 70%–80% allocated to advanced processes and about 10% to advanced packaging, testing, and photomask production; Micron has increased its long-term investment plan for new U.S. fabs from US$200 billion to US$250 billion, citing "unprecedented" memory chip demand driven by AI infrastructure expansion; SK Hynix's third-quarter financial report shows that shipments of high-value products such as HBM4 have expanded, with long-term orders already secured for more than 50% of capacity for 2027–2028. In its third-quarter 2026 financial report released in October, ASML explicitly stated that under its existing capacity plans, equipment supply in 2027 and 2028 will not fully meet customer demand, and the company is studying further expansion of 2028 capacity beyond the already announced 30% increase. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said at the earnings call that customer demand for lithography equipment has extended beyond 2028, with some customers beginning to express purchase intentions for 2029 to 2030. Looking further ahead, some customers have already started inquiring about equipment orders for 2030. Industry insiders say the current wave of semiconductor equipment shortages, mainly concentrated in front-end processes, may spread to back-end processes. At present, long-term order grabbing is mainly focused on front-end manufacturing equipment such as lithography, etching, and deposition. As global wafer fabs continue to ramp up overall front-end and back-end investment, the competition to sign long-term procurement contracts in advance will soon spread to back-end equipment areas such as testing and packaging, and the entire industry chain will enter a long-term order-locking mode. SEMI expects global semiconductor equipment sales to reach US$165.9 billion in 2026, up 23.2% year-on-year; it is projected to reach US$229.5 billion in 2028, with storage-related equipment spending expected to continue accelerating its expansion. Tianfeng Securities stated that AI infrastructure investment continues to transmit to the wafer manufacturing segment, and the prosperity of semiconductor equipment demand may extend into 2027–2028, with demand for advanced process-related equipment and key components expected to grow in tandem.
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HUA HONG GRACE (01347): In the third quarter of 2026, sales revenue reached US$987.1 million, up 19.9% year-on-year and 9.9% quarter-on-quarter. Excluding the consolidated revenue of Huali Microelectronics, sales revenue was US$803.4 million, exceeding the quarterly guidance range of US$770 million to US$780 million. Gross margin was 24.6%, up 7.6 percentage points year-on-year and up 4.7 percentage points quarter-on-quarter. Excluding the consolidation of Huali Microelectronics, gross margin was 19.9%, exceeding the quarterly guidance range of 16% to 18%. Profit attributable to owners of the parent company was US$123.4 million, up 147.1% year-on-year and up 77.7% quarter-on-quarter.
SHANGHAI FUDAN (01385): In the third quarter of 2026, the company's operating revenue was RMB 1.338 billion, up 12.90% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was RMB 211 million, up 54.63% year-on-year. In the first three quarters of 2026, operating revenue was RMB 3.564 billion, up 17.84% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was RMB 1.060 billion, up 221.08% year-on-year.
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