APAC Wrap: 24 May 2026
JPM on Asian Tech: Overall AI Semi trade likely to continue given healthy Nvidia print
JPM continues to see semi trade extending its longevity supported by:
Agentic AI benefits gradually materialize in real life applications across industries.
Emerging adoptions in physical AI, like robotics, autonomous driving.
Both driving CSPs and enterprises to invest more.
JPM continues to like AI beneficiaries in Asian tech supply chains, naming TSMC, ASE, Alchip, Unimicron, SEC, and SK Hynix.
Citi with similar comment noting NVIDIA suggested the tightest constraints are not in GPU silicon alone, but broader AI system deployment capacity. Key bottlenecks now include HBM supply, advanced packaging, optical interconnects, liquid cooling systems, rack integration, and power infrastructure.
FundAI made these observations more than a month ago here.
Taiyo Yuden: +11% on Friday after sell-side roundtable on Thursday.
GS, MS and Citi published after the meeting with Buy (¥7,100), EW (¥4,700) and Sell (¥2,900). The stock ended the week at ¥9,100.
MS says Taiyo Yuden’s MLCC market share (11.3%) is third place behind Murata (40.8%) and Semco (22.5%)
AI server MLCC sales grew ~30-35% YoY in FY3/26 and guided to accelerate to +80% YoY in BOTH FY3/27 and FY3/28 (a ~3.2x jump in two years).
However, servers were only ~6% of total company sales in FY3/26 and GS adds that MLCCs for servers were just over 9% of total MLCC sales.
Taiyo Yuden forecasts 32% CAGR for AI server MLCC demand 2026-2030 (4x over five years), which the company itself frames as conservative.
No MLCC price hikes this fiscal year, but FY3/28 is a possibility. GS and Citi tie say the company will hike if there is ~95% capacity utilization.
Mix shift toward smaller, higher-capacity parts is the ASP driver. Continued migration to small-case high-cap products is lifting ASP and carries high margins (GS gives the specifics: 47µF moving from 2012/1608 to 1005, 100µF from 2012 to 1608 in 2H 2026).
Capacity expansion held at ~10%/year. Management cautious about going higher given past overbuild.
Management acknowledged attempts to reduce MLCC count/capacitance per board via vertical power delivery and component-embedded substrates. The company (and Citi) view this risk as small.
None of the analysts appear prepared to chase and up pay up for this.
We hear investors lean towards Yageo and Murata, but happy to listen to counterarguments.
Mitsui Kinzoku: +6% after medium-term plan briefing (FY2025-27) after close on Thursday
Mitsui Kinzoku holds a near-monopoly — ~100% global share — in carrier/ultra-thin copper foil, sold under the MicroThin brand. It is a required ingredient for building the ultra-fine circuit boards used in advanced chip packaging and high-speed optical transceivers. Mitsui also sells a high-speed foil (”VSP”) for AI servers and switches.