The artificial intelligence (AI) boom has shifted.
While big tech is still gaining, it has lost some of its lustre among investors. One wonders whether their huge investments are generating any returns.
However, that focus has shifted instead to hardware companies that form part of the supply chain. Semiconductor chip companies are having one of their best years ever.
Here are 3 chip companies riding the AI boom.
Investment Thesis and Catalyst
In a gold rush, sell shovels.
Semiconductor chips are the shovels in the AI gold rush. And they also have uses across other areas, including electric vehicles, PCs, laptops, smartphones, and more.
Chip companies have been reporting very strong earnings in global markets recently, driven by demand for computing power from data centres.
In Asia itself, there is emerging interest in chip companies that are also tied into the global AI supply chain.
UMS Integration (Singapore)
UMS Integration (UMS) provides equipment manufacturing and engineering services to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of semiconductors. It has three main segments
- Semiconductors: 86% of revenue
- Aerospace: 10%
- Materials Distribution: 4%
UMS’ expertise in the AI supply chain lies in high-precision machining. In technical terms, the company provides milling, lathe, horizontal, cleaning, anodising, and large Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM).
The company has been riding this boom trend. Its share price has risen by 152% since the beginning of the year.
Source: Trading View
For its latest 1Q 2026 results, revenue grew by 20% to SG$69.4 million, while profits were up by 40% to SG$14.2 million. This was driven mainly by its semiconductor segment, which grew at 21%.
More specifically, UMS benefited from “higher artificial intelligence-driven increases in demand for deposition, etch and advanced packaging tools across memory, foundry chipmakers, as well as the continued resilience in global aviation.”
Its future revenue stream is clear. UMS has renewed a 3-year integrated system contract with a major client. It has also completed the construction of a 300,000 sq ft production facility in Penang, Malaysia, which is projected to increase its overall capacity for existing and new products and services.
UMS’ revenue and profits are projected to grow by 19% and 38%, respectively, for 2026, according to analyst projections.
Source: Shareinvestor
Xizhi Technology (Hong Kong)
Xizhi Technology (Xizhi Tech) provides optical connections and services to its clients. Think of various devices like GPUs, CPUs, xPUs, switches, and storage chips being connected by Xizhi’s optical connections. It stabilises the devices and helps them transmit information faster between them.
Traditionally, these optical connections use electrons. But Xizhi uses photons, which are more efficient but require more technological know-how.
That is the reason why Xizhi Tech’s share price has risen by 363% from its offer price of HK$183 when it recently listed on the Hong Kong market on 28 April 2026.
It is not a strictly chip company, but it provides critical infrastructure for chips to function. Chinese AI-related companies have been getting a lot of interest from investors.
Let’s be clear here. Xizhi Tech is considered a young to mid-stage company at this point. It is still loss-making and has shifted its business model since 2018. Revenue has almost tripled from HK$42.2 million in 2023 to HK$115.3 million in 2025, but it is not enough for the company to be profitable.
Source: Shareinvestor
However, the value positioning for Xizhi Tech is compelling. It focuses on providing optical connection services to the booming AI industry in China. Specifically, they are solving the problems of performance bottlenecks of traditional electrical systems by delivering fast and power-efficient connections.
According to Frost and Sullivan, the global AI interconnect market is projected to quadruple from RMB484 billion in 2025 to RMB2.0 trillion by 2031. The market potential is huge.
Source: Xizhi Technology Prospectus
Victory Giant Technology (Hong Kong)
Victory Giant Technology (VGT) researches, develops, and sells printed circuit boards used in computers, aerospace, automobiles, communications, consumer electronics, industrial control, and medical equipment.
With the global AI boom, it has been selling more multi-layer printed circuit boards (MLPCB) and High-Density Interconnect (HDIs) to its AI clients. Both components now make up 78% of its revenue stream, while revenue from its AI segment is at 40%.
The rate at which VGT has scaled up its AI components is staggering. Revenue for its AI segment grew by 20 times from RMB461 million in 2023 to RMB8.3 billion in 2025.
Source: Victory Giant Technology Prospectus
It explains why the company’s current share price of HK$360 is up 71.5% from its offer price of HK$210 since its Hong Kong market listing on 13 April 2026.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the global printed circuit board for AI and computing is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 15% from 2025 to 2030, far outpacing demand from other markets.
Source: Victory Giant Technology Prospectus
Conclusion
AI hardware companies are entering another gold rush. This is quite reminiscent of the smartphone boom in the early 2010s, when Apple changed the market through its iPhone.
These chip-related companies are again selling shovels to the current global technology cycle of AI. There will be many more to come, and shovel companies will still be here.
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