Unitika is now benefiting from real AI supply bottlenecks rather than just a meme narrative. Its shares once surged like a meme stock on its glass-fiber story and collapsed when people saw little substance behind it, but it has now passed Qualcomm's qualification test for T-Glass. Retail-driven small-cap bottleneck trades remain unappealing, yet their potential can no longer be dismissed outright. x.com 

Glass fiber cloth is a huge bottleneck for GPUs, ASICs and 800G/1.6T switches, and demand is shifting to alternatives as Nittobo, with 90% of T-glass and 70% of NER-glass, lacks capacity until mid-2027. Taiwan Glass is among the strongest near-term AI plays, with low-CTE output ramped in Q1 2026 and Nvidia/AMD certification. Fulltech is moving to T-glass, and Nan Ya Plastics is integrated via Nittobo. Unitika is most compelling, with asymmetric upside if Qualcomm or hyperscalers sign long deals. … Show more

Unitika may be too small after its restructuring, or too early in its new cycle, to benefit from AI glass demand, so the earlier thesis was too aggressive. Glass fiber and cloth sales fell 9% year over year to ¥33.7 billion, while operating profit rose 436.5% to ¥1.6 billion on one-offs. Unlike the prior quarter's mention of vigorous AI-related E-glass demand, the latest results had no explicit AI language. Its cleaner balance sheet keeps capacity and qualification updates worth watching. x.com 

IC substrates are Schmid's more relevant growth driver today because demand is already high and rising. Schmid customers Ibiden and Unimicron are expanding capacity with NVIDIA support; higher order intake supports the prospect of more equipment orders. Its balance sheet has improved, and the risk/reward looks attractive at current levels despite volatility. Glass substrates may take another one to two years to matter commercially. This is a personal assessment, not a buy recommendation. x.com  … Show more

Unimicron should benefit from a persistent AI ABF substrate shortage and a shift toward higher-end products. Its projected share exceeds 30% as the market reaches $13bn/$18bn in 2027/28; added capacity is expected to lift ABF revenue 66%/90%. Higher-end ABF, mSAP and LPDDR lift margins, supporting 77% EPS CAGR. Initiate Buy with a NT$1,820 target at 30x 2027 earnings. x.com 

Unimicron's profit leverage to rising ABF substrate prices should stay significantly positive and last longer than the market expects, even if customers absorb only part of the increases. As a high-end ABF leader, its high fixed costs and utilization leverage limit any squeeze from costlier T-glass. The T-glass bottleneck and long capacity cycles could extend the benefit for a year or two, and its high Nvidia and ASIC share adds pricing power, though execution on hikes and utilization matters. … Show more

Intel's EMIB packaging is ramping as advanced packaging becomes the next chokepoint after HBM. EMIB substrate yields reportedly rose from ~30% in 2Q26 to ~45%, with targets of 50% by 4Q26 and 60% by 1Q27. Google is expected to adopt EMIB-T in 2027 and AWS is testing it. CEO Lip-Bu Tan says Intel has to prepay substrate suppliers to secure capacity. CoWoS capacity is set to grow about 20x from 2023 to 370k wpm by 2028, more than TSMC can carry alone. x.com 

Samsung Electro-Mechanics is emerging as an AI infrastructure titan as advanced substrates become the bottleneck for AI scaling. Per @jukan05, it will supply FC-BGA substrates for Broadcom's most advanced AI accelerators from the second half, joining NVIDIA, Google, Amazon and Apple. With Ibiden and Shinko at full capacity, it is the only tier-1 player with the capex to scale large-area substrates. AI servers also need 3-4x more MLCCs, where Samsung and Murata own the IP and earn premium margin. … Show more

The AI hardware cycle is far from over because orders at NVIDIA, Broadcom and Dell are still accelerating and the industry is booked out to 2028; supply, not demand, is the constraint. NVIDIA's Q2 revenue rose 106% to $96.2B, and it expects about 70% growth in fiscal 2028 despite wafer, packaging, HBM and power limits. Broadcom guides AI chip revenue to $115B in 2027 and $230B in 2028, and Dell's AI server backlog is $95B. GPUs and custom ASICs are expanding together. x.com 

Broadcom's post-earnings wobble is not a cycle top: it now guides AI revenue to $58B in FY26, $115B in FY27 and $230B in FY28. Q3 revenue rose 86% to $29.6B, with AI semiconductors up 221% to $16.7B, over half of sales, and a ~68% operating margin shows pricing power. Q4 guidance slightly missed and gross margin slips to 73% as packaging and HBM eat margin. With six+ XPU customers, the risk is land, grid and substrate bottlenecks delaying deployments; receivables and inventory nearly doubled. … Show more