Maybank&rsquo s Jarrick Seet has raised his target price for AEM Holdings to $13.50 from the previous $11.48 at an unchanged &ldquo buy&rdquo call in his Aug 13 report.

For 1HFY2026 ended June 30, AEM Holdings reported a 876% y-o-y increase to $30.8 million, on revenue of $247 million, which is 29.9% higher than 1HFY2025.

AEM has raised its FY2026 revenue guidance to $630 million to $680 million from $550 million to $600 million, with EPS guidance of 24.5 to 27.5 cents, which is also 20-35% above Seet&rsquo s initial estimates.

 

Describing AEM&rsquo s 1HFY2026 performance as &ldquo robust&rdquo , Seet highlights the 52.5% y-o-y increase in test cell solutions segment revenue to $180.9m, driven by the deployment of AEM test solutions for advanced AI/HPC applications. He notes that the fabless AI/HPC customer is now the largest revenue contributor for AEM.

Seet believes AEM is &ldquo well positioned&rdquo to broaden its customer base and expand its revenue streams, which could drive profitability to new highs. According to him, AEM is still in talks with other new customers, and its strategic partnership with ASE Technology Holding could open up additional opportunities.

The analyst believes AEM offers a compelling multi‑ year growth story. He has raised his FY2026/2027 earnings forecasts by 28.7% and 17.8% respectively and values the counter at $13.50 or 40 times FY2027 estimated P/E.

The STI rose 13% in 1H 2026, but AEM, UMS, Nanofilm and Frencken surged over 100%. Discover what&rsquo s driving Singapore&rsquo s semiconductor rally.

By The Smart Investor
 

he SPDR STI ETF (SGX: ES3), which tracks Singapore&rsquo s Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), returned 13.1% in the first half of 2026. 

That&rsquo s a solid performance for the first six months of the year. 

But four billion-dollar stocks made it look ordinary.

AEM Holdings (SGX: AWX) delivered returns of 512% over the same period. 

Meanwhile, the trio of UMS Integration (SGX: 558), Nanofilm Technologies (SGX: MZH), and Frencken Group (SGX: E28) returned 132%, 113%, and 106%, respectively. 

All four sit outside the STI&rsquo s 30 constituents, yet they left the index far behind.

One theme connects them. 

Each is tied to the semiconductor cycle, and the market spent the first half of 2026 repricing that exposure.

Which company had the clearest recovery?

AEM Holdings makes semiconductor test and handling equipment.

The firm&rsquo s first quarter gave the market the most to work with.

For starters, revenue rose 35.8% year on year to S$116.9 million. 

Net profit surged 329.4% to S$14.3 million, and net profit margin widened to 12.3% from 3.9% a year ago. 

The Test Cell Solutions segment did the heavy lifting, growing 72.0% to S$88.1 million and making up three-quarters of group revenue. 

Growth came from a high-volume production ramp for AEM&rsquo s fabless AI/HPC customer.

Management then raised its 2026 revenue guidance by around 20%, to a range of S$550 million to S$600 million. 

That implies growth of 38% to 50% for the full year. 

The fabless AI/HPC customer is on track to become AEM&rsquo s largest revenue contributor this year.

The group held cash of S$72.9 million against borrowings of S$16.4 million at end-March, a net cash position of S$56.5 million. 

No dividend was declared for the quarter. 

For 2025, AEM had reinstated its dividend at S$0.013 per share.

When earnings more than quadruple and guidance goes up, investors tend to rethink what a business is worth. 

AEM gave them reason to. 1H 2026: 4 Billionaire SGX Stocks Delivered 100% Returns (or More!)
 

Advantest Secures $20 Million Payment and Contract Changes in Arbitration Against AEM, Lattice, & Former Vice President, Samer Kabbani

2026-07-01    Semiconductors    Please note that this article cites information from MoneyDJ, Liberty Times, and Economic Daily News.

AI-driven semiconductor demand is reportedly fueling another round of price increases across the OSAT industry. According to MoneyDJ, citing industry sources, ASE, the world&rsquo s leading outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) provider, has raised its packaging quotes by more than 20%, driven by higher raw material costs and higher long-term investment costs.

The latest price increases cover advanced packaging technologies such as Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) and Fan-Out Chip on Substrate (FoCoS), with major U.S. customers among those affected, the report says.

ASE declined to comment on the market speculation, the report adds.

The report indicates that ASE has become a key beneficiary of the AI-driven advanced packaging boom. With TSMC&rsquo s CoWoS capacity still supply-constrained and outsourcing continuing to increase, the company is seeing stronger demand for its on-substrate (oS) packaging and chip probing (CP) services.

Meanwhile, utilization rates across the OSAT industry remain near full capacity, with both leading and smaller providers actively expanding capacity to meet rising demand, the report notes.

AI Fuels OSAT Investment and Capacity Expansion

Commenting on the pricing strategy, ASE COO Tien Wu said the increases reflect two key factors: higher raw material costs and growing capital investment requirements, according to MoneyDJ.

Those long-term investments are being fueled by AI. According to Liberty Times, Wu said AI has become the key driver behind ASE&rsquo s capacity expansion plans. As AI adoption extends beyond data centers into physical AI applications such as automotive electronics and humanoid robots, he described the trend as a long-term structural shift and said the ASE Group is &ldquo going all out&rdquo to expand capacity.

To support future demand, Wu estimates that ASE and its subsidiary SPIL have around 15 new factory projects underway this year to prepare for demand expected from 2029 to 2030 and beyond, according to Liberty Times. ASE increased capital expenditures to US$5.3 billion in 2025 and further raised its 2026 capex to US$8.5 billion, with additional increases remaining possible.

The aggressive capacity expansion reflects a broader industry trend. As noted by Economic Daily News, competition in AI has expanded beyond leading-edge processes, making backend packaging, testing, and assembly increasingly critical to chip performance, yields, and time-to-market. As a result, major OSAT providers are accelerating investments in technologies such as 2.5D/3D packaging, chiplets, HBM integration, and panel-level packaging, further positioning the sector as a key capacity bottleneck in the AI semiconductor supply chain.