ASMPT bookings jump 137.9% to a record HK$8,845.1 million
Key Facts
ASMPT said bookings reached a record HK$8,845.1 million in the third quarter of 2026, up 24.7% from the previous quarter and 137.9% year on year. The company said record bookings reflected continued investment in AI infrastructure, with demand extending across its semiconductor and electronics equipment portfolio. The book-to-bill ratio was 1.69, its highest since the first quarter of 2021. This indicator means the value of new orders exceeded revenue recorded during the period. Management attributed the strength in bookings to demand across multiple sectors, from advanced packaging to server-board equipment and optical communications.
The semiconductor segment, SEMI, contributed to the increase, with bookings rising 31.3% from the previous quarter and 156.3% from a year earlier, reaching their highest level since the first quarter of 2021. ASMPT said record demand for thermocompression bonding (TCB) tools for compound chips from semiconductor assembly and test partners supported bookings for die-to-substrate bonding. In the surface-mount technology (SMT) equipment segment, bookings set a record for the third consecutive quarter, growing 18.9% quarter on quarter and 122.1% year on year. The company linked this performance primarily to demand for AI server boards. SMT bookings also included bundled orders and early pull-ins of orders worth more than US$100 million, factors the company said partly explain its expectation that bookings will fall from the third-quarter peak.
Activity extended to photonics, which recorded record bookings and revenue as 800G and 1.6T optical modules and next-generation modules entered volume production. These drivers show AI-related spending widening from chip manufacturing and assembly equipment to optical interconnect components used in data centers. Across the sector, SEMI forecast sales of assembly and packaging equipment to rise 9.6% to US$6.7 billion in 2026, following a 20.8% increase in 2025. The organization also forecast global spending on 300mm wafer-fab equipment to grow 18% to US$133 billion in 2026, then 14% to US$151 billion in 2027, amid strong demand for AI chips for data centers and edge devices. ASMPT said in its 2025 results that investment in AI applications and infrastructure supported SEMI and SMT bookings and revenue, and that AI-related demand would support revenue growth in 2026 and beyond.
ASMPT's third-quarter revenue was HK$5,247.0 million, up 6.3% from the previous quarter and 48.7% from a year earlier, while gross margin was 42.1%. Adjusted gross margin was 42.9%, and adjusted net profit was HK$689.7 million, up 486.3% year on year. The results showed revenue and profit growth alongside an expansion in the order base. In trading, Investing.com reported that the stock was steady at HK$121.2 in live trading on October 27, 2026, the same price at which it closed. The report added that the stock was about 50.4% below its 52-week high of HK$244.4.
ASMPT expects fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of between US$670 million and US$730 million, with a midpoint of US$700 million, equivalent at that midpoint to quarter-on-quarter growth of 4.6% and year-on-year growth of 37.5%. The company expects double-digit growth in SMT revenue, while SEMI revenue is expected to remain stable. It attributed the outlook for stability in the latter segment to long delivery lead times for advanced packaging products, rather than to higher bookings in themselves. It also expects fourth-quarter bookings to remain well above their level a year earlier, but below the third-quarter record because of exceptional orders and early pull-ins in SMT. The company said AI demand is expected to drive sustained revenue growth in 2027.