AI's new favorites: PCB and CCL are rising strongly

2025/06/17

United News Network
June 12, 2025
Author: First Exploration Investment Weekly Text/Wu Minzhen

[Text/Wu Minzhen]

In the wave of AI server upgrades, CCL and PCB are no longer just supporting roles, but have become the new favorites of capital. With the mass production of Nvidia GB200 and the surge in demand for high-end materials, Taiwan's CCL and PCB factories have successfully entered the key position of the supply chain with their advantages in technology and production capacity, becoming the winners in this wave of AI.

At the Taipei International Computer Show (Computex) in late May, Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun released the news that the Grace Blackwell architecture (GB200) has been fully mass-produced. At the same time, Huang Renxun also thanked Taiwan's supply chain manufacturers for achieving the AI ecosystem and announced that it will be upgraded to the more powerful GB300 in the third quarter. The news not only stimulated the stock prices of related AI supply chains, but if we observe the operating performance of AI stocks, we can also find that many companies have significantly increased their revenues thanks to the smooth shipment of GB200.

According to the latest "Greater China Technology Hardware" industry report issued by foreign investment firm Morgan Stanley, the second quarter GB200 NVL72 shipments are expected to reach 6,000 containers, several times higher than the first quarter. Morgan Stanley said that the shipments of GB200 rack servers in May have increased significantly to 2,000 to 2,500 containers, a significant increase from 1,000 to 1,500 containers in April; and it is expected to rise further in June, with total shipments in the second quarter estimated to reach 5,000 to 6,000 containers, far higher than the 1,000 containers in the first quarter. From the most intuitive point of view, it can be seen that it is indeed reflected in the revenue performance of ODM factories. For example, Quanta achieved the strongest revenue performance in May, and Wistron's revenue in May set a new record high.

GB200 shipment momentum increases

Looking back at the shipment status of GB200, it can be said that it has had a lot of bad luck. The sharp drop in the Taiwan stock market in early August last year was caused by the market's news that GB200 was delayed in shipment, coupled with the market's concerns about the bubble in AI. It is understood that GB200 chips face yield challenges. It is reported that problems such as abnormal wiring, chip overheating and cooling system leakage during the production process have caused the GB200 NVL72 assembly mass production schedule to be delayed from September last year to December last year, and then to the first quarter of this year, and finally began to ship at the end of the first quarter of this year.

And if we say that in this wave of strong AI stocks, the strongest ones are copper foil substrates (CCL) and PCB stocks. With the help of fundamental themes and institutional quarterly accounting, Tai Optoelectronics played the leading role in leading the rise, and funds continued to spread to Taiyao, Fuqiao, Golden Image Electronics, High-Tech and other stocks. The group started a rotation and a long pattern, becoming the main focus of the recent market. With the explosion of demand for AI servers, there are higher requirements for the number of layers and material quality of PCBs, which also drives up the ASP (average selling price). Therefore, it can be seen that PCB and CCL manufacturers have actively seized AI-related application fields in recent years, hoping to catch the AI train.

According to statistics from the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA), the global PCB output value grew by about 7.6% in 2014, reaching US$80.9 billion, and it is estimated that the market will grow by another 5.5% in 2015, reaching US$85.4 billion. Among them, the upgrade of AI servers and 800G switches can be said to be the two major engines driving the demand for PCBs. In fact, before the shipment of GB200 servers, at the end of last year, with the acceleration of shipments of ASIC servers from cloud CSP manufacturers, it has driven the revenue performance of many PCB manufacturers. Legal persons pointed out that 2015 and 2016 will be the key points for the increase in the volume of ASIC servers. It is estimated that the shipment of ASIC chips in 2015 will be about 4 million, an annual increase of 67%, and about 6.08 million in 2016, an annual increase of more than 50%.

Taiwan Optoelectronics and Taiyao received institutional rating upgrades

Taiwan Optoelectronics, the CCL leader, has accumulated revenue of NT$36.153 billion in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 56.5%, and its first-quarter profit was significantly better than market expectations. In recent years, Taiwan Optoelectronics has actively upgraded to high-end CCL materials, and its market share in M8 materials has reached 95%, becoming the core driving force for revenue growth. With the upgrade of AI server board specifications, the penetration rate of M8 materials will increase from 10% in 2004 to 30-40% this year, and due to tight supply and demand, ASP is expected to increase by another 30-35% this year. The company also continues to promote the development and verification of M9 materials, and is expected to become the first manufacturer to complete mass production.

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