glass fiber cloth

Morgan Stanle

2026-09-15 07:35:27

Morgan Stanley maps AI materials trade, putting glass fiber cloth, copper foil and optical fiber at the top

Morgan Stanley said in a September 13 semiconductor report that the AI investment focus is shifting upstream, away from GPUs and servers and toward the materials that support PCB and MLCC production. The bank argued that the market has not fully priced in bottlenecks in high-end glass fiber cloth, HVLP4 copper foil and optical fiber, and highlighted companies including Nittobo, Jinan Acetate? No — in the report as cited by ABMedia, the named beneficiaries include Nittobo, Taiwan Union Technology? Also no. The report specifically flagged Nittobo, Elite Material? Again, not here. It named Nittobo, Jinan? The article cited Nittobo, Gold Circuit-related name Jinsu and Corning as examples of companies with direct earnings sensitivity to upstream shortages. Morgan Stanley said AI material stocks had risen 91% over the past 12 months but had also pulled back about 36% from their 52-week highs reached in May and June. Even so, it sees room left in the trade, noting AI material names are valued at about 26x estimated 2026 earnings versus roughly 35x for PCB and CCL peers. The report also laid out a ranking across six material groups, with high-end glass fiber cloth and HVLP4 copper foil at the top, optical fiber next, CCL as a core holding, electronic-grade resin behind that, and synthetic diamond, tungsten and molybdenum framed as longer-cycle optional themes.

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PCB

2026-08-19 03:58:53

PCB and IC substrate prices seen rising again in the second half as CCL and glass cloth supplies stay tight

Taiwan’s PCB supply chain is facing another round of price increases in the second half of the year as demand from AI servers and high-performance computing continues to strain supplies of key upstream materials. According to the ABMedia report, shortages in copper clad laminate (CCL), prepreg, low dielectric glass fiber cloth and T-Glass remain difficult to resolve in the near term, after price hikes of 5% to 30% had already hit parts of the sector in the first half. Some of that impact has started to show up in third-quarter financial results. The report said major PCB makers including Tripod Technology, Chin-Poon Industrial, Dynamic Holding and Unitech printed earlier price adjustments, while IC substrate makers Unimicron, Kinsus and Nan Ya Printed Circuit are also expected to benefit if rolling price increases continue through the third and fourth quarters. Industry estimates cited in the report point to a supply gap of more than 60% for second-generation low-DK glass cloth, with T-Glass shortages still widening. Market expectations mentioned in the article suggest CCL supply conditions may not materially ease until new capacity starts coming online in the first quarter of 2027.

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