Semiconductor Equipment
Amidst the waves of industry cycles, equipment manufacturers are the first to sense shifts in market trends.
The capacity expansion wave driven by AI computing power is tangibly transmitting to the semiconductor equipment sector. Orders and financial performance across various manufacturers have successively surged.
As the 2026 semi-annual reports are successively disclosed, leading enterprises such as AMEC, Piotech, ACM Research, and Hwatsing Technology have delivered impressive results. The details within these financial reports also reveal ongoing changes in the industry.
In the past, manufacturers might rely on a single flagship equipment to break into the market, but this development model is now shifting. Driven by the demands for AI computing power and Advanced Packaging, leading enterprises are beginning to adopt a platform-based layout. By building their own capacity and pursuing industrial mergers and acquisitions to supplement their product lines, these semi-annual reports also serve as a window for us to observe the current industrial transformation.
01. AMEC: Net Profit Attributable to Shareholders Triples in H1
On August 19, #AMEC officially released its 2026 semi-annual report. In the first half of the year, the company achieved an operating revenue of RMB 6.691 billion, a year-on-year increase of 34.89%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company reached RMB 2.825 billion, a year-on-year increase of 300.22%; and the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was RMB 1.123 billion, a year-on-year increase of 108.36%.
In the first half of the year, the company's R&D investment reached RMB 2.041 billion, a year-on-year increase of 36.86%. The proportion of R&D investment to operating revenue reached 30.51%. Projects under research cover more than 20 new equipment products across six major categories. As of the end of June, the company has successfully developed 54 high-end semiconductor equipment units, and a cumulative total of over 8,800 reaction stations have been deployed across more than 220 production lines globally for mass production.
In the etching segment, the Cryo cryogenic high-aspect-ratio etcher has achieved stable mass production, and the new-generation Primo Angnova has secured repeat orders from customers. The CCP etching equipment Primo XD-RIE has completed laboratory testing and is advancing customer-side validation, with the new-generation etching equipment for nodes below 7nm planned for sample delivery within the year. In the thin film business, tungsten-based thin film equipment has secured repeat orders from memory customers, and metal gate ALD equipment has completed validation at multiple advanced logic fabs.
In terms of capital operations, the company completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Zhonggui Technology, supplementing its CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing) equipment product line. Meanwhile, it announced a RMB 3.5 billion investment project for the second phase of the Lingang industrialization base. Upon completion, it is expected to generate an annual revenue of RMB 3 billion, which will be used for capacity expansion in etching, thin film, and metrology and inspection equipment. The medium- to long-term overall capacity planning target is to expand the existing construction area of 600,000 square meters to 900,000 square meters, with the overall annual output value target exceeding RMB 70 billion.
During the earnings call, management introduced that modular R&D has compressed the new product development cycle to about two years, reducing R&D costs by reusing mature components. Moving forward, the company will stabilize its core etching business and focus on driving the mass deployment of new products in thin film, CMP, and metrology and inspection. In the medium to long term, the company hopes to cover 60% of high-end IC (Integrated Circuit) equipment and 70% of Advanced Packaging equipment within five years through a combination of independent R&D and mergers and acquisitions, transforming into a platform-based equipment provider.
02. Piotech: Net Profit After Deducting Non-recurring Gains and Losses Surges Over 8 Times
#Piotech disclosed its semi-annual report on August 20. During the reporting period, the company achieved an operating revenue of RMB 2.913 billion, a year-on-year increase of 49.06%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 1.343 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1324.10%; the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was RMB 367 million, a year-on-year increase of 861.92%; and the net cash flow from operating activities was RMB 115 million, a year-on-year decrease of 92.63%.
The company explained in the semi-annual report that the significant increase in book net profit for the current period was contributed by approximately RMB 960 million in gains from changes in the fair value of trading financial assets. The profitability of the main business can be primarily referenced by the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses.
The semi-annual report pointed out that with continuous technological breakthroughs and scaled mass production applications of the company's thin film deposition equipment and 3D integration equipment products, such as PECVD, ALD, SACVD, HDPCVD, and Flowable CVD, the core competitiveness of the company's products in the advanced process node field has significantly improved.
PECVD remains the company's most core revenue pillar. The ONO stack and ACHM series models adapted for advanced memory and advanced logic processes have entered the stage of scaled mass production, and new process equipment such as OPN, SiB, and Bianca are gradually generating sales revenue. The shipment scale of ALD equipment in memory production lines continues to rise, and multiple PE-ALD equipment units have secured repeat orders from customers. As of the end of the first half of the year, the company's cumulative equipment shipments have exceeded 3,800 reaction chambers. The products have entered approximately 100 production lines in chip manufacturing fabs, and the average uptime has exceeded 90%, reaching the level of similar international equipment. The cumulative wafer throughput at the customer side is approximately 600 million wafers.
In terms of capacity construction, the main structure of the high-end equipment industrialization base of Shenyang Plant II has been topped out. The total construction area of the project exceeds 150,000 square meters, and it is planned to be officially put into production in 2028 to undertake the subsequent continuously growing equipment orders.
During the earnings exchange meeting, management stated that at this stage, the overall capacity utilization rate of the factory is maintained in a healthy range. With the continuous optimization of the product structure, the gross profit margin is highly likely to remain stable in the future. The company's overall strategy has long focused on the two main lines of thin film deposition and 3D integration, continuously expanding equipment models adapted for advanced process nodes. The 3D bonding equipment project is a long-term technical reserve made for the 2.5D and 3D Advanced Packaging track.
03. ACM Research: Global Market Share of Electroplating Equipment Reaches 9.6%
#ACM Research released its semi-annual report on August 7. In the first half of the year, the revenue was RMB 3.718 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.87%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 989 million, a year-on-year increase of 42.14%; the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was RMB 571 million, a year-on-year decrease of 15.31%; and the net cash flow generated from operating activities was RMB 88 million, successfully turning from negative to positive.
The financial report explicitly stated that the direct cause of the year-on-year decline in net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was an exchange loss of RMB 146 million. After the proportion of overseas business increased, exchange rate fluctuations have become a long-term risk factor that the company needs to address in its operations.
The operational data disclosed in the semi-annual report shows that in the first half of the year, the company successfully completed the delivery of its 2,000th electroplating chamber. The electroplating product solutions now cover multiple application scenarios, including front-end copper interconnects, wafer-level stacking, 3D stacking, and compound semiconductors.
High-temperature SPM cleaning equipment achieved multi-unit shipments, with a target of cumulative shipments exceeding 20 units by the end of the year. The SiCN material PECVD for back-end and Advanced Packaging achieved the delivery of its first unit. During the reporting period, newly signed orders increased by 105% year-on-year, with orders for cleaning, electroplating, and wet equipment growing simultaneously.
Management clarified during the earnings communication meeting that the company maintains its previously given full-year revenue guidance of RMB 8.2 to 8.8 billion. Electroplating equipment has become the fastest-growing business segment at this stage. Orders in the direction of overseas Advanced Packaging have begun to land gradually, and the business scale in the overseas market is expected to be further released in the second half of the year.
04. Hwatsing Technology: Revenue Proportion of Semiconductor Equipment Breaks Through 40%
On August 20, #Hwatsing Technology disclosed its semi-annual report. In the first half of the year, the company achieved an operating revenue of RMB 547 million, a year-on-year increase of 36.05%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 47.2577 million, a year-on-year increase of 1706.70%; the net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was RMB 44.7997 million, a year-on-year increase of 1721.98%; and the net cash flow from operating activities was -RMB 84.6487 million, turning negative year-on-year.
The explanation given in the financial report is that the expansion of inventory scale and the increase in accounts receivable jointly caused phased pressure on cash flow. From the perspective of business composition, the company has formed a dual-wheel driven business pattern of LED new display equipment and semiconductor packaging equipment. The revenue of the semiconductor equipment segment reached RMB 219 million, accounting for 40.22% of the overall revenue, and the effectiveness of business transformation is gradually emerging.
The financial report mentioned that the company's semiconductor die bonding equipment can now be adapted for Advanced Packaging processes such as HBM, Flip-Chip, and 2.5D/3D chip stacking. The products have been successfully introduced into the supply chain of leading domestic packaging and testing manufacturers, and orders from overseas semiconductor packaging customers have also achieved growth. Wire bonding equipment and test handling equipment have entered the stage of batch delivery, and the vacuum coating equipment under the subsidiary Haiwei has also generated sales revenue.
Information from the earnings exchange meeting shows that the current backlog of orders in the semiconductor equipment segment is in good overall condition, and the factory capacity utilization rate is at a normal level. Moving forward, the company will continue to deeply cultivate domestic packaging and testing customers on the one hand, and increase efforts to explore the overseas packaging and testing market on the other hand, to increase the proportion of overseas shipments of die bonding equipment.
The several semi-annual reports present the reality of an upward boom, but the dividends themselves have boundaries. Whether it is the evolution of AI computing power demand or the pace of capital expenditure of downstream wafer and packaging/testing fabs, they will continue to influence the subsequent trend of the equipment industry.
For domestic equipment enterprises, the cyclical dividends provide a window to validate products and expand capacity. As for long-term competitiveness, it ultimately depends on the actual results of new product deployment, customer repeat purchases, and process integration. The answers still need to be continuously validated by subsequent production lines and financial reports.
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