Weekly Top Ten Tech Hardware and Semiconductor - Mar 1, 2026

This weekly newsletter pulls together summaries of the top ten most-read Insights across Tech Hardware and Semiconductor on Smartkarma.

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1. Taiwan Dual-Listings Monitor: Key Spreads After Long CNY Closure in Taiwan

TSMC: +21.9% Premium; Spread Rebounded from Previous Lows; Maintain Key Long/Short Levels
UMC: +4.4% Premium; Good Level to Short the Spread Despite Recent Premium Resilience
ASE: +4.5% Premium; Rebounded from Near-Parity, Near Level to Short the Spread

AMD announced a long term, strategic partnership with Meta to power their AI infrastructure with up to 6GW of GPUs “to align our product roadmaps across hardware, software, and systems
The deal is almost identical to the one AMD inked with OpenAI, with the key difference being that Meta likely has the cash to actually see it through
An important element of the deal is that it also spans both AMD’s EPYC server CPU processors and their forthcoming Helios rack-scale solution.

First-In-Class veterinary biologics targeting the US market: Developing the world’s first canine gene therapy (heart disease) and dual-checkpoint immunotherapy (cancer) — the two leading causes of pet death.
2025 MountainVet acquisition provides revenue base and clinical infrastructure: ~60% Taiwan diagnostics market share, 900+ vet hospital network, and a built-in distribution channel for therapeutic pipeline launches.
Multiple 2026 catalysts ahead: PT001 cancer trial efficacy readout, PT401 gene therapy indication expansion, and new antibody candidates from proprietary AIDE discovery platform.

Taiwan’s first battery gigafactory at 10% utilization — built ahead of demand to win contracts. Breakeven requires 35-45%; management prioritizes capital-efficient, customer-backed expansion.
Defense is the nearest catalyst — drone cells in qualification with 4-5 mass production discussions active. Meaningful military revenue from 2027, not 2026.
Non-China supply chain positioning is the structural bet — 100% Taiwan manufacturing, multi-geography sourcing. Converting geopolitical tailwinds into contracts before cash runs thin is the key risk.

Building on our Jan 28 analysis of the NOR flash cycle trough, Macronix January revenue of NT$3.2bn, +35%YoY (+40% for NOR) and recent industry developments, signal strength amid tightening supply.
AI’s memory narrative often spotlights HBM and advanced NAND, but NOR memory is the quiet enabler in the datacenter’s backbone—storing boot code, servers firmware, BMCs, and configuration data for networking.
Macronix International (2337 TT) and Winbond Electronics (2344 TT) together control the majority of global NOR supply. We’ve increased our model forecasts for Macrionix, see further upside for the stock.