Taiwan Stock Market Pre-Market News: Rally Reaches 6,000-Point Milestone; Futures Night Session Tops 46,000 as Earnings Season Kicks Off

1. Taiwan's stock market closed at 45,518.07 points on August 12, up 397.35 points, marking three consecutive green days on the daily chart. Trading volume reached NT$858.732 billion. Institutional investors collectively bought a net NT$28.179 billion, with foreign investors buying a net NT$11.021 billion for the third consecutive day. The night session of the Taiwan Index Futures surged 601 points to close at 46,117, breaking the 46,000-point barrier ahead of regular trading.

2. Hon Hai (2317-TW) held its earnings call on August 12. Rotating CEO Chiang Chi-Heng stated that the company maintains its view of quarterly growth in AI rack shipments. Third-quarter shipments are expected to grow at a high double-digit rate quarter-on-quarter, with full-year growth remaining above doubling. NVIDIA’s next-generation AI platform, Vera Rubin, is set for mass shipment in Q4 and will become the main product in 2025. Hon Hai aims to increase its AI server market share toward 50%.

3. Hon Hai announced on August 12 that its board approved the acquisition of land and buildings at No. 28, Zhongshan Road, Tucheng District, New Taipei City, from Hsin Hung International Investment for NT$1 billion. The company stated the location and scale meet future operational and spatial planning needs, and will be developed for optical communications, ultra-precision molds, and precision forming.

4. Demand for test interfaces continues to rise due to AI and high-performance computing (HPC). On August 12, King Yuan Electronics’ Executive Vice President Chen Shao-Kun said during a SEMICON press conference that with August already underway, this year’s order situation is largely settled. Most industry players have nearly full capacity booked through year-end. Looking ahead to 2027 and the next 2–3 years, there are no signs of weakening demand across wafer testing, test interfaces, and supporting equipment.

5. Major testing firm King Yuan Electronics (2449-TW) recently announced plans to build a factory in the U.S. General Manager Chang Kao-Hsun, speaking after the SEMICON forum on August 12, said this move differs from past Taiwanese manufacturers' 'going west' trend, being primarily driven by customer demand. If the U.S. semiconductor supply chain lacks only the testing segment, it would remain incomplete. 'If testing is the missing piece, we’re willing to play that role,' he said, completing the final puzzle of the supply chain.

6. Taiwan Mobile (3045-TW) held a major announcement press conference on August 12, revealing plans to acquire shares of Synology Information (6214-TW) via its wholly-owned subsidiary 'Taiwan Telecommunications.' The goal is to increase holdings to at least 39%, achieving majority ownership, with total acquisition funds capped at NT$29.13 billion. CEO Lin Chi-Chen expressed high confidence in synergies, stating that both companies’ revenue and profits could significantly increase as early as this year after securing majority control.

7. PC brand ASUS (2357-TW) held its Q2 earnings call on August 12. Co-CEO Joe Hsieh stated that as memory price increases gradually slow in the second half, combined with benefits from a higher-value product mix, PC operations are gradually recovering. Q3 overall PC revenue is expected to grow 15%–20% quarter-on-quarter, with year-on-year growth potentially exceeding 20%, maintaining strong momentum.

Foreign investors bought a net NT$11 billion for the third consecutive day, heavily purchasing TSMC (114,000 lots) and ETF 00403A (66,000 lots).

Hon Hai spent NT$1 billion acquiring land in Tucheng to expand into optical communications and precision mold forming.

<Hon Hai Earnings> Q3 AI rack shipments forecast high double-digit sequential growth; Vera Rubin to ramp in Q4.

<ASUS Earnings> Memory price hikes to moderate in H2; Q3 PC revenue seen up to 20% QoQ.

<Pegatron Earnings> H1 EPS at NT$2.26; 'very confident' server revenue will grow 10x this year.

<SEMICON> Chroma: Zero tolerance for defects in AI chips makes inspection a must-have.

<SEMICON> Winway’s capacity fully booked through 2024; AI demand to stay strong beyond 2027.

<SEMICON> King Yuan: U.S. supply chain lacks testing; willing to fill the gap.

Taiwan Mobile to spend up to NT$29.13B, a 29.5% premium, to acquire majority stake in Synology.

<United Imaging Earnings> CW Laser capacity in high demand; substrate material shortage not significant.