Nikkei reported that Tokyo Electron, Japan’s largest semiconductor equipment maker, is expected to post operating profit of ¥1 trillion for the fiscal year ending March 2027 (April 2026–March 2027), up approximately 60% year over year.

🚨 ASIA'S CHIP GIANTS ARE GETTING CRUSHED So far today: Tokyo Electron -9.2% 🔴 SK Hynix -9.2% 🔴 Samsung -7.1% 🔴 SoftBank -6.1% 🔴 South Korea's🇰🇷 KOSPI is DOWN -4.8%, and Japan's🇯🇵 Nikkei is DOWN -1.3%.

According to Korean media reports, the world’s leading semiconductor equipment suppliers—including Applied Materials, ASML, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron (TEL), and KLA—are nearing the final stages of securing equipment supply contracts for 2028. Some have also begun discussions on purchase orders (POs) for equipment deliveries in 2029. The rush reflects chipmakers’ growing concern that they could fall behind in the race for AI semiconductor dominance unless they secure equipment well in advance, as surging demand and limited production capacity rapidly extend equipment lead times. A senior executive at a global equipment supplier quoted by Korean media said, “It is unusual to be discussing equipment deliveries three years in advance,” adding, “Given chipmakers’ fab investment plans, we expect this trend to continue through at least 2030.”

* THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY: TERAFAB LARGELY COMPLETED PLACING ORDERS FOR FRONT-END SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT WITH MAJOR GLOBAL SUPPLIERS, INCLUDING ASML, APPLIED MATERIALS, LAM RESEARCH, AND TOKYO ELECTRON, IN Q2 THIS YEAR. SINCE THE START OF THE SECOND HALF, IT HAS BEEN PLACING ORDERS IN STAGES FOR BACK-END EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING PACKAGING EQUIPMENT. * THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY: TERAFAB AIMS TO COMPLETE ITS PILOT LINE BY THE END OF 2027 AND BEGIN OPERATIONS IN 2028. * THE KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY: SOUTH KOREA’S HANMI SEMICONDUCTOR IS SUPPLYING TERAFAB WITH PACKAGING EQUIPMENT FOR SYSTEM SEMICONDUCTORS.

Japan's long-term rate touched 2.930 percent yesterday. That is the highest since September 1996. Today Tokyo gave back five sessions of gains in one. The Nikkei closed at 67,460.73, down 1,759.52 or 2.54 percent, the first fall in six sessions. Nikkei's own headline names the reason: Middle East concerns and rising rates. Two names did roughly half of it. Advantest and Tokyo Electron together accounted for about 836 of those 1,759 points, per Zaikei's contribution ranking. What was repriced is the multiple. What was not repriced is the commitment. JX Advanced Metals (TSE: 5016) decided in June to spend up to 120.0 billion yen through fiscal 2030 on InP capacity. Fuji Electric (TSE: 6504) is not raising group capex at all, it is reallocating inside a smaller number, from 85.2 billion two years ago to 56.0 billion this year. Both decisions were designed when the ten year cost of money in Japan started with a zero. This is the part the tape does not price in a single session. A multiple can move 2.54 percent in a day. A wafer line and a switchgear plant transfer are three to five year schedules with a signature already on them. So the question I am holding is narrow. Not whether Japanese suppliers are cheap after a down day. Whether any of them revises a multi-year capex plan because the discount rate moved, and which line it shows up in first. I do not think it shows up in guidance. Guidance is annual. It shows up in the capex schedule, and that is disclosed once a quarter. The September quarter closes in six weeks. Korea sits on the other side of this. SK hynix (KRX: 000660) breaks ground in Indiana on 27 August. Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930) is expanding Pyeongtaek. Those are dollar financed. The Japanese layer under them is yen financed, and the yen curve just moved thirty years. Every capex schedule is somebody's bet that money stays cheap. That is a different risk from the one the tape traded today. I could be wrong in an obvious way: rates have been rising in Japan all year and none of these plans have changed yet. If the September filings show the same capex lines, this is noise and I will say so. Sources, in order: Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 17 August 2026, long term rate at thirty year high. Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 18 August 2026, Tokyo close. Zaikei Shimbun, 18 August 2026, Nikkei contribution ranking. Second hand. JX Advanced Metals company release, 16 June 2026. Fuji Electric FY2027 Q1 appendix. The 836 of 1,759 share is my arithmetic. My read, not advice.

🚨 The first time since April 2025 that the S&P 500 has fallen this hard in one day. One Democratic congresswoman just made the most expensive statement toward the AI industry in modern history. Here's the damage so far: OVERNIGHT: Korea's KOSPI crashed 5.3% and program selling was halted. SK Hynix -9.5%. Samsung -7.6%. Taiwan -3.2%. Tokyo Electron -9.4%. SoftBank -6.8%. AT THE OPEN: about $2 trillion wiped from US stocks in 20 minutes. Nasdaq 100 -4.6%. Nvidia -7%. Bitcoin under $77,000. – AI stocks are over 40% of the S&P 500. – Democrats now control BOTH chambers. One of their senators listed "Rein in AI and Big Tech data centers" right next to "End Trump's stupid war" – Goldman told clients: "We expect Democrats to use fiscal deadlines to seek to limit the war with Iran." The market repriced AI. Not in months. Not in weeks. In one night. 🚨 You'll wish you had followed before the first AI bill hits the floor. That one vote moves your portfolio.

JAPAN’S NIKKEI PLUNGES 3.5% AS FED RATE HIKE FEARS GROW Japanese stocks tumbled after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation fueled expectations of higher interest rates. The Nikkei fell 3.5%, led by sharp losses in AI stocks: SoftBank -7.9%, Advantest -7.3% and Tokyo Electron -5.8%. Rising rate fears are putting renewed pressure on global tech stocks.

TrendForce maps the companies supplying bonding equipment Hybrid bonding is already used in niche applications. Soon, it’ll take over many facets of advanced packaging $BESI and ASMPT ( have the broadest exposure, with Hanmi (042700.KS) and Hanwha Semitech competing in memory TCB EV Group and Tokyo Electron (8035.T) occupy the wafer-to-wafer bonding side, while Shibaura Mechatronics (6590.T) competes with Besi and ASMPT in die-to-wafer hybrid bonding SUSS ( appears across both hybrid-bonding formats for memory