Amid the bullish sentiment sweeping the global AI chip industry, semiconductor equipment suppliers—traditionally under the radar—have recently seen their stock prices soar. This surge follows Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's optimistic outlook at the GTC conference, alongside announcements from tech giants Microsoft, Google, and Meta to invest heavily in AI computing infrastructure.
Nvidia (NVDA.US) has become the first company to surpass a $5 trillion market cap, while other key players like TSMC, Broadcom, Micron, AMD, and SK Hynix have also rallied. Notably, semiconductor equipment providers such as Applied Materials, ASML, KLA, and Teradyne have experienced significant gains. Teradyne's stock surged over 20% on Wednesday, driven by soaring demand for its AI chip testing equipment.
In Japan, Lasertec—a critical yet low-profile player in semiconductor manufacturing—saw its shares jump 21% on Thursday, reaching a market cap of $17.5 billion. This marks its largest single-day gain in over a year, pushing its stock to its highest level since August 2024. The rally comes ahead of its quarterly earnings report, with analysts forecasting a 27% revenue increase.
Lasertec specializes in EUV mask actinic inspection, a vital step in producing advanced AI chips. As the leading supplier of EUV mask and blank inspection systems, the company has become a core beneficiary of the AI boom, with its stock up 80% since September. Its technology ensures mask yield and production stability, making it indispensable for TSMC, Samsung, and Intel in manufacturing cutting-edge 3nm and below chips.
The AI computing surge, fueled by Nvidia’s projected $500 billion data center revenue and massive infrastructure investments from Google, Microsoft, and Meta, has spotlighted Lasertec as one of the sector’s top performers. Its collaboration with global foundries and dominance in EUV/High-NA mask inspection position it for sustained growth.
Meanwhile, Samsung announced record AI chip orders in Q3 and plans to accelerate 2nm production, further boosting demand for EUV-related equipment. Lasertec’s sales trajectory aligns with ASML’s EUV lithography expansion, with its mask inspection tools increasingly used in HBM memory and AI chip production.
Wall Street remains bullish on the semiconductor equipment sector. Wells Fargo highlights ASML, Applied Materials, and KLA as key beneficiaries, citing structural demand for EUV/High-NA lithography and advanced packaging. Analysts project the AI infrastructure investment wave could reach $2–3 trillion, reinforcing the long-term bull case for Nvidia, TSMC, Broadcom, and Micron-led supply chains.