AI Chip Concept Stocks Watch | ASMPT (00522.HK) down 2.05%, Huawei unveils Ascend 960 supernode

NewTimeSpace (newtimespace.com) News, on 17 September 2026, AI chip stocks traded with volatility and pulled back, with ASMPT (00522.HK) weakening. As of 13:45, the company quoted HKD 158.000, down 2.05%.

On the news front, on 17 September 2026, Huawei Connect 2026 opened in Shanghai and runs through 19 September, where Huawei unveiled the Ascend 960 supernode, the world's first supernode to adopt NPO (near-packaged optics) technology. The product is built on "Lingqu + Hi-ONE", features an orthogonal architecture and an all-liquid cooling design, scales to 4,096 cards and delivers 8 EFLOPS in FP8 and 16 EFLOPS in FP4. Huawei's vice chairman and rotating chairman said that R&D progress on the Ascend 960 chip exceeded expectations with performance doubled, and that Ascend 960DT will be ready in the first quarter of 2027, three quarters ahead of the original plan; more than 1,000 Ascend supernodes have been deployed, serving more than 370 customers.

In addition, on 16 September, media reports said that South Korean advanced packaging equipment maker Hanmi Semiconductor has signed a purchase order for packaging equipment with TerraFab, the AI semiconductor manufacturing project led by Elon Musk, supplying advanced packaging equipment for AI system-on-chip production, the first time a South Korean back-end packaging equipment maker has entered TerraFab's supply chain; the two sides are also discussing the further supply of thermal compression bonding (TCB) equipment used in HBM production. The TerraFab project is located in Texas, with total investment expected to reach USD 119 billion and production targeted for around 2029.

FOUNDER SECURITIES believes that AI computing demand is driving simultaneous capacity expansion in advanced logic, memory and advanced packaging, that the semiconductor equipment industry's upcycle continues, and that fab construction and equipment upgrades will keep receiving sustained investment. TechInsights data showed that global IDM and foundry capital expenditure is expected to reach USD 273 billion in 2026, up 27% year on year, with leading logic manufacturers directing capital expenditure mainly to advanced-node and advanced-packaging capacity; as of June 2026, planned global investment in advanced packaging lines stood at about USD 125 billion, up 25% year on year. CCSC noted that AI is driving global memory makers to accelerate capacity expansion, that supply tightness in semiconductor equipment is gradually increasing, and that overseas expansion by the Chinese supply chain and domestic substitution are both accelerating.

ASMPT (00522.HK) Engages in R&D and global sales of semiconductor assembly and packaging equipment, advanced packaging equipment, and surface mount technology. Its 2.5D/3D advanced packaging tools, such as thermo-compression bonding (TCB) machines, have been delivered to multiple leading OSATs, IDMs, and memory manufacturers worldwide for volume production of HBM and chiplet-based chips. The company has publicly disclosed multiple follow-on orders from AI-compute related customers.

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