The research team highlights five major sectors poised for growth, driven by technological advancements, capacity expansion, and strong demand. Humanoid robotics is seeing multiple catalysts, while AI data center power equipment faces a supply-demand gap. The construction machinery sector shows surprising sales strength, and semiconductor equipment enters a new cycle with price hikes and export opportunities. Lithium battery equipment is progressing from pilot testing to commercial orders.
In the humanoid robotics space, Google DeepMind has released a new robot model, enhancing the capabilities of the robot's "brain" and accelerating its potential deployment in end-user scenarios. The IPO of Unitree is advancing, with a confirmed inquiry date, bringing it closer to the market. Tesla's Optimus is moving toward mass production, and the supply chain is providing positive feedback. This sector is experiencing a convergence of multiple catalysts. Physical AI is considered the next wave of artificial intelligence, and robots are one of the best physical carriers for AI, with a clear industry development trend. Leading manufacturers are actively promoting the application of humanoid robots in industrial and commercial settings. As the level of robot generalization improves, their application scenarios are expected to expand, with 2026 potentially becoming a major year for vertical applications of humanoid robots. The release of the V3 model and its mass production, new domestic robot product launches, robot company IPO progress, and application rollouts will continue to provide catalysts for the sector, suggesting a focus on high-quality links.
Regarding AI data center (AIDC) power generation equipment, high demand and capacity expansion are creating a resonance, with the supply-demand gap persisting. A strong outlook for domestic gas turbine exports is maintained. On the demand side, Baker Hughes has received orders for 76 NovaLT16 industrial gas turbines, totaling about 1.3 GW of power generation capacity, primarily for rapid deployment of power in North American data centers and oil and gas fields. AEP has locked in an additional approximately 3 GW of gas turbine resources in the second quarter, bringing its total secured to about 13 GW, and is evaluating the possibility of securing another 10 GW by 2035. On the supply side, Baker Hughes has announced further capacity expansion, aiming to double its gas turbine production capacity by the end of 2028 compared to 2026. The new capacity for its power systems business could support annual production of $50 billion, with gas turbines accounting for about half. Additionally, Microsoft and Amazon continue to increase their investment in AI infrastructure, with no signs of cooling end-market demand. The view is that demand remains high, with overseas CSPs raising capital expenditure plans and Baker Hughes securing over 1 GW of gas turbine orders. On the supply side, GEV and Baker Hughes are continuously raising their expansion plans, and the industry's supply-demand gap remains significant. The domestic gas turbine industry chain is accelerating its expansion into overseas markets, leveraging its delivery capabilities and cost-effectiveness advantages.
In the construction machinery sector, domestic and overseas sales of excavators in June exceeded expectations, with a strong recommendation to build positions at low levels. In June 2026, 25,445 excavators of various types were sold, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%. Of these, domestic sales were 10,898 units (including 65 electric excavators), up 33.9% year-on-year, while exports were 14,547 units (including 34 electric excavators), up 36.4% year-on-year. Both domestic and overseas growth rates have accelerated. This year, the peak season for excavator domestic sales has shifted later. Due to the later Chinese New Year this year compared to last year, domestic excavator sales have maintained a relatively high positive year-on-year growth since March, and this growth is expected to continue. Export performance remains strong, unaffected by international situations, tariff changes, or interest rate cuts, and the high-growth trend for Chinese construction machinery continues. The domestic market structure is improving, with leading companies beginning to raise prices. Starting May 1, companies such as Sany, XCMG, LiuGong, and Shantui announced price increases of about 5% for excavators. Sany and XCMG have also raised prices for crane products, reflecting a slowdown in the industry's price war since the beginning of the year and a shift toward healthier development.
For semiconductor equipment, the global cyclical upturn continues to be confirmed, with a focus on price increases and export opportunities. SEMI has updated its forecast, predicting continuous growth for semiconductor equipment over the next three years. It expects global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales to hit a record high of $165.9 billion in 2026, a year-on-year increase of 23.2%. This growth momentum is expected to persist until 2028, with total equipment sales potentially reaching a record $229.5 billion, achieving five consecutive years of growth. TSMC has revised its capital expenditure for 2026 upward, forecasting full-year capital spending of $60 billion to $64 billion, up from the previous estimate of $52 billion to $56 billion, an increase of $8 billion or about 15%. ASML's overall results significantly exceeded both market expectations and the company's previous guidance. Its quarterly net sales totaled 9.326 billion euros, up 21% year-on-year and 6.4% quarter-on-quarter, substantially surpassing the company's own guidance of 8.4 to 9.0 billion euros and the market consensus of 8.85 billion euros. ASML has raised its full-year performance target for the second time this year, driven by high demand from AI computing power and storage recovery, with a continuous improvement in profit structure. The global semiconductor equipment components sector is experiencing a historically rare, full-chain price increase. Pricing power in the semiconductor industry chain is structurally shifting from chip terminals to equipment and components. Component companies, which are smaller in scale with high fixed costs, see price increases directly translate into profits. Meanwhile, production line expansion cycles are 12 to 18 months long, making supply elasticity the weakest. Attention is drawn to the extended lead times from overseas suppliers for items such as valves, piping, ceramic components, RF power supplies, and gas boxes, which creates opportunities for domestic substitution and price increases.
In the lithium battery equipment sector, solid-state battery industrialization is advancing from cells to systems, with pilot-scale verification and equipment orders running on parallel tracks. On the mass production front, Enpower Energy's 2 GWh advanced battery pack manufacturing base in Wuxi is set to commence operations on July 30. This base will serve as an integrated platform for R&D, testing, verification, and manufacturing of solid-state battery systems, focusing on strategic emerging scenarios such as high-end electric motorcycles, low-altitude aircraft, and humanoid robots. The company plans to launch 1-20 Ah all-solid-state cells in 2026, with the sulfide route achieving energy densities ranging from 270 to 600 Wh/kg, continuously improving its industrialization capabilities from cell to system. On the material and technology front, the commissioning of a hundred-tonne production line for sulfide electrolytes is approaching in the third quarter. Tinci Materials has achieved a 30%-40% cost reduction through liquid-phase methods, and Capchem has a clear industrialization path for a thousand-tonne oxide line by year-end, moving from laboratory verification to large-scale supply and laying the foundation for all-solid-state cell mass production. On the equipment side, orders are materializing ahead of financial results. Leading companies such as Lead Intelligent, Haimo Star, and Lyric Automation are continuously validating their whole-line delivery capabilities. Equipment orders lead cell orders by 6 to 12 months, accelerating the commercialization of solid-state equipment from the initial to the scaled phase. In terms of industrialization pace, the industry is currently in the 2026 mid-scale pilot year, with the consensus being demonstration installations in 2027 and large-scale production in 2030. Leading companies still need to overcome engineering hurdles in interface consistency, yield rates, and costs for large-scale all-solid-state production. The current sector is in a window of opportunity with a triple resonance of "material breakthroughs + mass production verification + equipment realization," and a positive outlook is maintained for the allocation value of the lithium battery equipment and solid-state battery sectors.
Regarding risks, the first is the risk of domestic macroeconomic fluctuations. Machinery is a typical mid-stream capital goods sector, closely linked to macroeconomic fluctuations. A major shift in domestic macro policy would inevitably impact the overall demand for the machinery industry. The second is the risk of overseas market fluctuations. The overseas expansion of Chinese companies will not be smooth, and future journeys will inevitably involve various frictions. It requires careful judgment to determine whether these are temporary episodes or the formation of a new trend. The third is the risk of lower-than-expected downstream expansion. If downstream industry expansion falls short of expectations, the corresponding demand for equipment will decline, adversely affecting order books and financial performance of companies in the industry.
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