After a period of phased adjustments, the semiconductor sector experienced a strong rebound overnight in the U.S. stock market, with the China-Korea semiconductor segment also rising in tandem, sweeping away recent gloom. On the positive side, Samsung Electronics reported strong Q2 results, Microsoft's Azure growth rate accelerated again, and the global leader in etching equipment posted earnings that exceeded expectations. These multiple positive catalysts have together reaffirmed the long-term cycle logic of the semiconductor equipment and materials track. Related ETF products have attracted capital interest, with the KED Semiconductor Equipment ETF (588710) receiving capital inflows for nine consecutive trading days, accumulating a total of 35 billion yuan.
On July 30, Microsoft released its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings report: revenue reached $900.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18%, and net profit was $357.7 billion, showing significant growth. The core Azure cloud business saw revenue grow by 43% year-on-year, with full-year fiscal 2026 Azure revenue exceeding $100 billion for the first time. Microsoft's CFO indicated that Azure's growth rate would further accelerate to 45% in the next quarter. The company also raised its capital expenditure forecast. The continuous ramping up of AI computing power construction will be transmitted along the industry chain to segments such as chips, wafer foundries, semiconductor equipment, and materials, providing long-term, deterministic support for the upstream equipment and materials track.
On July 29, the global etching equipment leader Lam Research also released Q4 earnings that significantly exceeded expectations: revenue was $67.2 billion, a 30% increase year-on-year, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of record growth. The non-GAAP gross margin reached 52.0%, a new single-quarter high in nearly 20 years. More critically, the company's revenue guidance for the next quarter was approximately $81 billion, exceeding analyst expectations by 13.6%. It also raised its outlook for the global wafer fab equipment (WFE) market in 2026. As the world's third-largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer, Lam Research's better-than-expected performance directly validates the high prosperity of the global semiconductor equipment industry.
Data from Wind and the exchange shows that trading for the KED Semiconductor Equipment ETF (588710) has been very active. Over the past 30 trading days, it has accumulated net inflows of 96.69 billion yuan, pushing the latest fund size to 97.99 billion yuan. The fund's share count has reached 3.51 billion units, once again setting a new historical record. The KED Semiconductor Equipment ETF (588710) offers a one-click investment in the core upstream assets of the STAR Market's semiconductor sector, with a high-purity focus on the dual themes of "equipment + materials." It may serve as an efficient tool for investors to capture the twin opportunities of semiconductor domestic substitution and AI computing power construction.
It is reported that the KED Semiconductor Equipment ETF (588710) tracks the KED Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Index, where the cumulative proportion of the upstream semiconductor "materials and equipment" industries is as high as 87%. This gives the index high industrial sensitivity to wafer fab capital expenditure, memory expansion, and the domestic substitution process. Furthermore, the index has a memory chip concept component of over 70% and an "advanced packaging" concept component of 58%. Investors off the exchange can consider the Huatai-PineBridge Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market Semiconductor Materials and Equipment Theme ETF Feeder Fund (Class A: 024974 / Class C: 024975).
The semiconductor equipment and materials sector is characterized by high elasticity, and investors need to be aware of risks related to high valuations and trading volatility. Investors should make rational judgments and invest cautiously based on their own risk tolerance. One approach to consider is a "barbell" strategy, pairing the Huatai-PineBridge "Dividend Family Bucket" with the tech ETF. On the offensive side, one can capture industry dividends by investing in high-growth technology tracks. On the defensive side, dividend-type assets can help smooth out portfolio fluctuations. Huatai-PineBridge Fund is one of the first ETF managers in China, with over 19 years of deep experience in index investing. It has provided investors with transparent, convenient, and low-cost index tools such as the CSI 300 ETF by Huatai-PineBridge (510300) and the A500 ETF by Huatai-PineBridge (563360). As of the end of June 2026, the company's ETFs had generated a cumulative profit of over 180.6 billion yuan for their holders over the past two years, making it one of only three public fund companies in the entire A-share market to have accumulated a cumulative profit of over 160 billion yuan during the same period. A MACD golden cross signal has formed, and these stocks are showing strong upward momentum!
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