HK Stock Concept Tracker | Orders booked out three years ahead! AI sparks a rush to buy semiconductor equipment, and the sector's boom remains intact (with concept stocks)

Against the backdrop of strong AI demand, downstream customers are increasing procurement, and delivery lead times for semiconductor equipment are rapidly lengthening. Conventionally, orders are negotiated 612 months before equipment introduction, but now they are being locked in directly three years ahead. According to reports, the five major equipment makersApplied Materials, ASML, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron, and KLAhave entered the final stage of supply contracts for 2028, with some beginning to discuss 2029. Some South Korean equipment companies are also helping global customers sort out supply plans two to three years in advance. TSMC has raised its full-year 2026 capital expenditure to US$6064 billion, with the midpoint up 51.6% year on year, of which 70%80% is directed to advanced processes and about 10% to advanced packaging, testing, and mask making; Micron has increased its long-term investment plan for new US plants 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, and it has locked in long-term orders for more than 50% of capacity for 20272028. In its third-quarter 2026 financial report released in October, ASML clearly stated that, under existing capacity plans, equipment supply in 2027 and 2028 will not be able to fully meet customer demand, and the company is studying further expansion of 2028 capacity on top of the already announced 30% capacity 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 begun inquiring about equipment orders for 2030. Industry insiders said that 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 concentrated in front-end manufacturing equipment such as lithography, etching, and deposition. As global wafer fabs continue to increase overall investment in front-end and back-end processes, the competition to sign long-term procurement contracts in advance will soon spread to back-end equipment fields 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 expects them to reach US$229.5 billion in 2028, with memory-related equipment spending expected to continue accelerating its expansion. Tianfeng said that AI infrastructure investment continues to transmit to the wafer manufacturing segment, semiconductor equipment demand prosperity may extend to 20272028, and demand for advanced-process-related equipment and key components is expected to grow in tandem. Related concept stocks: Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (00981): In the second quarter of 2026, the company's sales revenue reached US$3.006 billion, surpassing the US$3 billion mark in a single quarter for the first time, up 20% quarter on quarter and about 36% year on year; gross profit was US$761 million, corresponding to a gross margin of 25.3%, up 5.2 percentage points quarter on quarter. Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor (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 sales 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 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 RMB1.338 billion, up 12.90% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was RMB211 million, up 54.63% year on year. In the first three quarters of 2026, operating revenue was RMB3.564 billion, up 17.84% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was RMB1.06 billion, up 221.08% year on year.