MLCC: Continued Demand Growth for High-Value-added Products for AI & Data Centers

Research evidence excerpt

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M

Japan Insight

September 15, 2026 09:24 PM GMT

Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd.+

Global Technology

Shoji Sato

Equity Analyst

MLCC: Continued Demand

Growth for High-Value-added

Products for AI & Data Centers

Morgan Stanley Taiwan Limited+

Howard Kao

Equity Analyst

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+

Shawn Kim

Equity Analyst

Remain OW on Murata, SEMCO & Yageo, which we see as MLCC

demand growth beneficiaries, and upgrade Taiyo Yuden to EW.

Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd.+

Sota Harashima

Equity Analyst

Key Takeaways

We forecast global MLCC shipment value to expand at a CAGR of 20.3%, driven

by growing demand for AI servers/DCs.

Morgan Stanley Asia Limited+

Duan Liu

Equity Analyst

MLCCs are a key business, accounting for 50% of sales at Murata Mfg, 46% at

SEMCO, 19% at Yageo, and 70% at Taiyo Yuden in 2025.

Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc+

We expect Murata, the top player by global market share, and No. 2 SEMCO to

benefit particularly strongly from expanding demand for AI server/DC MLCCs.

Cindy Huang

Equity Analyst

What’s Changed

MLCC is early cycle in AI server & rack penetration:

Revenue growth is inflecting, driven by a structural

change from AI-related MLCC content. This shift to

higher-margin AI products will support sustained

earnings growth worth more than cyclical earnings

growth – and thus, higher valuations. In short, MLCC

Taiyo Yuden (6976.T)

Rating

From

To

Underweight Equal-weight

Price Target

¥12,500

¥10,500

Murata Manufacturing

(6981.T)

Price Target

From

¥12,500

To

¥11,000

Yageo Corp. (2327.TW)

Price Target

From

To

NT$1,465.00 NT$1,050.00

is perhaps the new investment highly levered to data

center spending among the "AI picks & shovels".

Demand in high-value-added MLCCs for AI/DC to

keep growing from 2027: We forecast CAGR in global MLCC shipment value at

20.3% in 2025-31 ($14.67bn to $44.45bn) based on our outlook for continued

growth in sales of small, high-capacity, high-value-added MLCCs for AI servers/DCs.

Murata & SEMCO the biggest beneficiaries: MLCCs are a key business, with 50% of

sales at Murata, 46% SEMCO, 19% Yageo, and 70% Taiyo Yuden in 2025.…