AI | Semiconductors | Commodities, Mint Finance

Raghav Vashisht

AI | Semiconductors | Commodities

Deep Fundamental Analysis

Mint Finance

Mint Finance's investment research blends deep fundamental analysis with technical & quant insights. Investment strategies straddle across multiple asset classes with risk management embedded into every trade to deliver an outsized reward-to-risk ratio.

Mint Finance's research is centered around three key themes. First, energy transition and climate change. Second, artificial intelligence. Third, shifting world order with its impact across politics and monetary economics.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>CPO architectures do not eliminate InP demand; escalating power requirements for Continuous Wave lasers expand die size and crush wafer yield, potentially increasing substrate intensity per module.</li>
<li>Merchant InP supply is tighter than headline capacity implies. While all are increasing capacity, Sumitomo is increasingly captive, AXT’s export cadence dictates revenue, and JX remains a minor player.</li>
<li>While the market tracks indium prices, a major supply chain anchor is 7N red phosphorus, where a near-monopoly is held by two Japanese companies dictating substrate production limits.</li>
</ul>


CPO architectures do not eliminate InP demand; escalating power requirements for Continuous Wave lasers expand die size and crush wafer yield, potentially increasing substrate intensity per module.
Merchant InP supply is tighter than headline capacity implies. While all are increasing capacity, Sumitomo is increasingly captive, AXT’s export cadence dictates revenue, and JX remains a minor player.
While the market tracks indium prices, a major supply chain anchor is 7N red phosphorus, where a near-monopoly is held by two Japanese companies dictating substrate production limits.


[Part 1: The Materials Chokepoint] Looking Into (And Past) The Indium Price Story

Smartkarma's AI Co-Pilot, Smartkarma

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Smartkarma's AI Co-Pilot

Smartkarma

Smartkarma unites the fragmented investment industry, connecting institutional investors, independent research providers, and corporates within a single network.

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Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
 <li>AXT is a key manufacturer of specialty compound semiconductor substrates (InP, GaAs, Ge), which are critical for high-performance applications where silicon is inadequate, such as 5G, data centers, and AI.</li>
 <li>The company is currently navigating a cyclical downturn, reflected in recent financial losses and negative cash flow. However, recent quarterly results suggest a potential recovery, driven by strong demand for Indium Phosphide (InP) substrates used in data center and AI applications.</li>
 <li>Significant geopolitical risk exists due to the company's reliance on its manufacturing facilities in China and the associated export permit requirements, which have previously caused revenue delays.</li>
</ul>This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.


  AXT is a key manufacturer of specialty compound semiconductor substrates (InP, GaAs, Ge), which are critical for high-performance applications where silicon is inadequate, such as 5G, data centers, and AI.
  The company is currently navigating a cyclical downturn, reflected in recent financial losses and negative cash flow. However, recent quarterly results suggest a potential recovery, driven by strong demand for Indium Phosphide (InP) substrates used in data center and AI applications.
  Significant geopolitical risk exists due to the company's reliance on its manufacturing facilities in China and the associated export permit requirements, which have previously caused revenue delays.
This content is AI-generated and displayed for general informational purposes only. Please verify independently before use.

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>Our outlook as of last week (3/3/26 Compass) remains near-term neutral on the S&amp;P 500 (SPX), after being bullish for all but one week since 4/22/25 (we went neutral 11/19/25-11/25/25).</li>
<li>However, signs point to a local low being made yesterday after indexes went from heavily red, to firmly green as Trump signaled the war with Iran is nearing an end</li>
<li>Russell 2000 (IWM) held at 4+year base support $245 , S&amp;P 500 futures(ES) held at its 200-day MA and Nasdaq 100 futures(NQ) held above 6-month support at 24,000 late-Sunday night</li>
</ul>


Our outlook as of last week (3/3/26 Compass) remains near-term neutral on the S&amp;P 500 (SPX), after being bullish for all but one week since 4/22/25 (we went neutral 11/19/25-11/25/25).
However, signs point to a local low being made yesterday after indexes went from heavily red, to firmly green as Trump signaled the war with Iran is nearing an end
Russell 2000 (IWM) held at 4+year base support $245 , S&amp;P 500 futures(ES) held at its 200-day MA and Nasdaq 100 futures(NQ) held above 6-month support at 24,000 late-Sunday night


Local Low in Place; Russell 2000 (IWM) Holds at $245; Semiconductors (SMH) Hold at $375

<ul>
<li>Samsung Foundry’s utilisation is recovering on 4nm/8nm, but 2nm yields keep break-even out of reach; TSMC tightness and Tesla’s AI6 deal are the near-term demand supports.</li>
<li>TSMC’s 3nm is effectively sold out through 2027, turning what began as a CoWoS bottleneck into a wafer constraint and pushing customers to hedge via Samsung and Intel.</li>
<li>AI is creating a new materials bottleneck in indium phosphide, while China’s CXMT accelerates DRAM scale-up, narrowing the process gap and reshaping bargaining power.</li>
</ul>


Samsung Foundry’s utilisation is recovering on 4nm/8nm, but 2nm yields keep break-even out of reach; TSMC tightness and Tesla’s AI6 deal are the near-term demand supports.
TSMC’s 3nm is effectively sold out through 2027, turning what began as a CoWoS bottleneck into a wafer constraint and pushing customers to hedge via Samsung and Intel.
AI is creating a new materials bottleneck in indium phosphide, while China’s CXMT accelerates DRAM scale-up, narrowing the process gap and reshaping bargaining power.


[Wafer Watch] Foundry Loading, 3nm Scarcity, and New Materials Constraints

In our November Strategy book we summarize the basis for our bullish outlook, discuss the deservedly hot topic of value vs. growth. and highlight actionable opportunities within our Manufacturing, Transportation, Materials, Technology, &amp; Consumer Discretionary Sectors.

In our November Strategy book we summarize the basis for our bullish outlook, discuss the deservedly hot topic of value vs. growth. and highlight actionable opportunities within our Manufacturing, Transportation, Materials, Technology, &amp; Consumer Discretionary Sectors.

United States

AXT, Inc. uses a proprietary crystal growth technique to produce semiconductor substrates for a variety of electronic and optoelectronic applications.  The Company's products are used in wireless and fiber optic telecommunications, lasers, LEDs, satellite solar cells, and consumer electronics.

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AXT Inc (AXTI US)

[Part 1: The Materials Chokepoint] Looking Into (And Past) The Indium Price Story

AI optics demand crushes InP yield. Supply is squeezed with Sumitomo captive and AXT export-bound. Yet Japan's 7N red phosphorus monopoly is the...

Mint Finance

Primer: AXT Inc (AXTI US) - Nov 2025

AXT is a key manufacturer of specialty compound semiconductor substrates (InP, GaAs, Ge), which are critical for high-performance applications...

αSK

Local Low in Place; Russell 2000 (IWM) Holds at $245; Semiconductors (SMH) Hold at $375

Local Low in Place $SPX; Russell 2000 $IWM Holds at $245; Semiconductors $SMH Hold at $365-$375; Cannot be too Bearish if these supports hold....

Vermilion Research

[Wafer Watch] Foundry Loading, 3nm Scarcity, and New Materials Constraints

Samsung’s utilisation improves, TSMC’s 3nm is sold out, InP substrates tighten, and CXMT accelerates its DRAM build-out.

Mint Finance

U.S. Equity Strategy: Remain Bullish

In our November Strategy book we summarize the basis for our bullish outlook, discuss the deservedly hot topic of value vs. growth. and highlight...

Vermilion Research

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