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. AMD @ Citi Global TMT Conference. Key Takeaways & Full Transcript
- On the CPU side, after a supply constraint, we have been increasing supply. We expect the second‑half CPU business to expand more than 80 % year‑over‑year,
- CPU will continue expanding more than 70 % next year though it will still remain supply‑constrained
- We just updated our TAM opportunities to more than $220 billion from $25 billion in 2025. That is how significant the expansion has been.
2. KLA Corporation (KLAC) @ Citi Global TMT Conference. Key Takeaways & Full Transcript
- KLA’s annual revenue grew 12% in 2024, 17% in 2025, and is on track for low-20% growth in 2026. Operating profits have expanded by ~400 basis points over this timeframe.
- I think growth rates into 2027 are probably in a similar range, maybe higher. Our backlog is very strong. We just disclosed our backlog of $12.6 billion in our 10-K
- KLA’s share of advanced packaging inspection/metrology market rose from ~2% in 2023 to roughly 7%–8% in 2026. This business is growing 70% YoY (~$1.1 billion), roughly 2x market growth rate.
3. TechChain Insights: Walking SEMICON 2026 Showed the Fab Is the First Buyer of Taiwan’s Robot Parts
- The fab is the first buyer of Taiwan’s robot parts: smart manufacturing was SEMICON Taiwan 2026’s largest zone, up 20% against 6% for advanced packaging.
- Labor drives the orders: TSMC has about 20 fabs under construction and calls construction workers a limiting factor, while ASE lists labor among six packaging challenges.
- TSMC will release its packaging-equipment automation specs and simulation software free in 4Q, which lowers the entry bar for local automation makers.
4. Seagate Technology (STX) & Citi Global TMT Conference. Key Takeaways & Full Transcript
- Demand-Supply Mismatch: Demand for high-capacity hard disk drives (HDDs) is outstripping supply. Rather than narrowing, the gap between supply and demand is widening.
- Seagate is focusing on increasing exabytes through technology transitions rather than manufacturing higher unit volumes. They are targeting at least a 25% exabyte CAGR over the next 2–3 years.
- Seagate plans to begin qualifying its 3rd-generation HAMR 50TB drive in roughly four quarters (mid-2027), representing a subsequent 25% capacity jump.
5. GlobalWafers Q2 2026 Earnings Review & Full Transcript
- GlobalWafers last month reported second quarter revenues of NT$15.2 billion, up 8.8% QoQ but down 5% YoY. Gross margin was 20.6%, flat sequentially but down 5.2 pp YoY
- AI infrastructure remains main growth driver, supported by higher capital spending and continued growth in agentic AI inference and cloud‑edge integration. Memory supply remains tight; LTAs provide better demand visibility.
- Our H1 gross margin was 20.7 %, -5.5 pp YoY. This mainly reflects pricing agreed during last year’s weak market, as well as higher qualification and ramp‑up costs at our new sites.
6. Taiwan Supply Chain Signals: Wistron & Quanta Drive AI Server Revenue Jump; Memory Sales Level Off
- Wistron and Quanta drove most of the chain’s August revenue growth, about 80% of the sequential increase, while notebook-heavy Inventec and Compal fell below their own seasonal pattern.
- Memory revenue held July’s level rather than extending it: the six names grew 2.7% MoM after +32% in July, and Nanya was flat against +26% last August.
- Chip designers ran well ahead of seasonal: MediaTek’s revenue grew 32% MoM against 3% last August, unexplained in its filing, and Alchip’s custom AI chip revenue grew again.
7. GlobalFoundries Q2 2026 Earnings Review & Full Transcript
- GlobalFoundries reported second quarter 2026 revenues of $1.786 billion, up 6% YoY, up 9.8% QoQ and perfectly in line with the top end of the guided range
- Gross margin came in at 29.9% (non- IFRS), handily beating guidance of 27.4% at the midpoint. GFS forecasted current quarter revenues of $1.885 billion, +5.5% QoQ and +11% YoY.
- CID accounted for ~16% of Q2 revenue. At $277 million, it was +20% QoQ and +62% YoY, the seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit YoY growth. Wow!
8. Kyndryl @ Citi 2026 Global TMT Conference. Key Takeaways & Full Transcript
- At spin-off, commercial terms mandated Kyndryl purchase $4B of IBM hardware/software content annually. Kyndryl reduced this to under $2B last fiscal year by transitioning customers to buy directly from IBM
- Revenue generated with AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure grew from $0 at spin to over $2B last year, driven by 30,000 employee cloud credentials.
- The U.S. segment delivered 5% revenue growth for two consecutive quarters, driven by mission-critical system management, application modernization, and new customers across state government accounts (e.g., DMV digital modernisations).
