Amid the AI computing power surge, infrastructure development for computing power is accelerating comprehensively, sparking a new round of price increases in the materials sector for printed circuit boards. Industry prosperity continues to climb, with leading manufacturers experiencing a doubling in performance.

Kingboard Laminates raised prices again within the month by 10%. On April 28, Kingboard Laminates, a subsidiary of industry leader Kingboard Holdings in the copper-clad laminate sector, issued an official price increase notice. It cited high copper prices and tight glass fabric supply, leading to a sharp rise in CCL costs. Effective immediately, the company increased prices for FR-4 CCL and prepreg by 10%.

Notably, since 2026, driven by sustained raw material cost increases and AI computing demand, Kingboard Laminates has announced multiple price hikes. On March 10, the company uniformly raised prices for all board materials, prepreg, and copper foil processing fees by 10%. On April 3, it issued another notice, uniformly increasing prices for board materials and prepreg by 10%.

Simultaneously, major Taiwanese high-end CCL suppliers like TUC, TAYO, and ITEQ have recently communicated price increases to customers. For instance, TAYO raised CCL quotes starting April 25, with some product series seeing increases of 20% to 40%.

Japanese material manufacturers have also joined the price hike trend. Resonac raised prices effective March 1, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical increased prices for its full product line by up to 30% from April 1, and Panasonic Industry also announced adjustments.

Additionally, other PCB raw materials, including electronic glass fabric, copper foil, and PPE resin, have seen varying degrees of price increases.

PCB industry chain companies reported explosive first-quarter earnings. PCBs are core foundational components in electronics, often called the "mother of electronic products." From smartphones and laptops to AI servers and automotive electronic control systems, nearly all electronic devices rely on PCBs.

This year, with the rapid development of the AI industry, PCB materials have initiated a new price increase cycle, with the market showing both volume and price growth. Several listed companies delivered strong performance reports.

On the evening of April 28, Shengyi Electronics disclosed its Q1 2026 report, showing revenue of 24.11 billion yuan, up 52.62% year-over-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 4.45 billion yuan, a 122.16% YoY increase and 24% growth sequentially.

AI PCB leader Victory Giant Technology also reported on the same day. Its Q1 revenue was 55.19 billion yuan, up 27.99% YoY; net profit reached 12.88 billion yuan, increasing 39.95% YoY. Net cash flow from operations was approximately 21 billion yuan, surging nearly fourfold year-over-year.

Furthermore, Shanghai Electric Cable's Q1 revenue was 62.14 billion yuan, up 53.91% YoY; net profit was 12.42 billion yuan, a 62.90% increase. Shennan Circuits reported Q1 revenue of 65.96 billion yuan, a record high since listing, with net profit at 8.50 billion yuan, up 73.01% YoY. Tianjin Pulin's Q1 revenue was 4.24 billion yuan, up 42.39% YoY, with net profit skyrocketing 2187.33% year-over-year.

PCB specialized equipment manufacturer Han's CNC saw Q1 revenue grow 103.69% YoY, with net profit up 176.53%. The company stated in its report that the revenue doubling was mainly due to strong demand for specialized processing equipment in the AI server PCB market and an increased proportion of high-value-added innovative equipment sales.

Analysts point out that NVIDIA's GB300 and Rubin series volume increases are driving PCB demand. In 2026 and beyond, hardware performance and architectural upgrades will promote the adoption of new technical solutions like orthogonal backplanes and CoWoP, becoming significant growth drivers for the AI PCB sector.

According to a Prismark report, the global PCB market size in 2025 exceeded expectations, with final estimated output value revised up to approximately $851.52 billion, a 15.8% year-over-year increase. China's PCB market is expected to be the fastest-growing globally in 2025, with approximately 19.2% YoY growth, particularly in AI-driven high-layer count PCBs, HDI PCBs, and IC substrates.

From Guojin Securities' perspective, the per-unit value of ASIC server motherboard PCBs is significantly higher than that of same-generation GPU servers. Material upgrades (such as high-end materials like M7, M8) and process improvements jointly drive the leap in PCB value.

The institution further notes that as optical module speeds increase and CPO technology commercialization accelerates, higher demands are placed on PCB structural design, thermal performance, and signal loss. Given the limited number of manufacturers globally capable of mass-producing high-end processes, tight PCB supply and additional growth momentum in the ASIC field are expected to persist.

A Shanghai Securities research report indicates that PCB order demand in 2026 is expected to continue driving performance growth, validating manufacturers' expectations and ramp-up, shifting from "expectation-driven" to "performance realization-driven." The debut of next-generation computing products like the Rubin architecture, combined with multiple demands for orthogonal backplanes and LPU cabinets, alongside global AI hardware upgrades, suggests the PCB industry's output value could achieve significant growth.

Multiple concept stocks are anticipated to see earnings double. According to East Money Information's concept sector data, over a hundred A-share stocks are currently involved in the PCB concept. Victory Giant Technology, Dongshan Precision, Shennan Circuits, Shengyi Technology, and Shanghai Electric Cable lead in market capitalization, showing significant head effect in the sector.

Year-to-date, the PCB concept sector has performed well overall, with nearly 80% of stocks recording price increases. Seventeen stocks have seen their prices double. Besides newcomers Red Board Technology and Hongshida, Minbao Optoelectronics' stock price has risen over twofold. Honghe Technology, Jin'an Guoj i, and Han's Laser have all gained more than 150%. Hongchang Electronics, Aike Optoelectronics, and Xincheng Microelectronics have seen prices nearly double.

Since April, up to 90% of concept stocks have seen rising prices. Dongshan Precision, Defu Technology, Han's Laser, and Sidelon have surged over 70% month-to-date. Tongguan Copper Foil, Honghe Technology, Jin'an Guoj i, and Wenzhou Hongfeng have each gained more than 50% during the period.

From a capital flow perspective, East Money Choice data shows that since April, 30 PCB concept stocks have received net margin buying exceeding 100 million yuan. Dongshan Precision saw intense buying by margin traders totaling 31.76 billion yuan. Victory Giant Technology, Han's Laser, and Tiantong Co., Ltd. received margin financing increases of 24.33 billion, 21.08 billion, and 12.73 billion yuan, respectively. China Jushi and Shennan Circuits also saw over 8 billion yuan in buying. Zhongwu Hi-tech, Jingwang Electronic, Red Board Technology, and Shihua Circuit were among seven stocks with net margin purchases between 3 and 5 billion yuan.

Regarding future growth potential, based on consensus forecasts from three or more institutions, up to 17 PCB concept stocks are expected to see earnings double in 2026. Institutions project Jiayuan Technology and Tongguan Copper Foil to see net profits surge by 9.8 times and 7.1 times year-over-year, respectively. forecasts for Yidong Electronic, Pylon Technologies, and Dongshan Precision predict net profit growth between 3.5 and 5 times. Xingsen Technology is also expected to achieve over twofold net profit growth.