TAIWAN FIRST TO MARKET

Research evidence excerpt

TAIWAN FIRST TO MARKET

Asia Pacific Equity Research

Taiwan First to Market 04 August 2026

Top Stories

Taiwan: July PMI pointed to a solid start to 3Q (Jiayi Li)

July PMI signaled sustained expansion in Taiwan’s manufacturing sector.

Output PMI remained elevated despite a moderation in the pace, while new orders inched up further.

Global Silicon Wafer Sector (Jimmy Huang)

Implications from Siltronic’s earnings call: 2H26 pricing mediocre vs the bull camp’s view; no plans

for new Capex

Siltronic (WAF GY, Not Covered) held its 2Q26 earnings call on Jul 30 (link). Key read-throughs for the silicon wafer sector

include: 1) Siltronic slightly edged up its 2026 sales guidance (by about a low single digit). 2) For 300mm wafers, there are

positive pricing developments on low volumes in the non-LTA space. LTA (long-term agreement) prices are unchanged. Spot

prices remain lower than LTA prices and the reinvestment level. 3) For 200mm wafers, prices declined in 1H26, but are

expected to stabilize in 2H26, given the strong demand environment. 4) Siltronic does not plan to initiate any new Capex,

unless prices rise above the reinvestment level.

Asia Pacific Monthly Wrap (Rajiv Batra/Mixo Das/Joy Wang)

July 2026: De-leveraging in AI stocks drives sector/market/factor rotation

MSCI Asia Pacific and MXASJ fell only 1.3% and 3.2% over the month, respectively, but this hides substantial intra-month

and sector/market/factor variation driven by a pullback in AI stocks. Not for the first time, c oncerns had surfaced in late June

about the sustainability of AI capex due to hyperscalers ’ financing and monetization challenges and competition from China.

But the resultant wobble in AI stocks was amplified by an intense positioning unwind (including from equity hedge funds and