Following the holiday, A-shares continued their pre-Chinese New Year upward trend, with the logic behind price increase themes like chemicals and metals strengthening further. Today, another specialized segment joined the rally—Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). Key representative stocks such as Han's Laser Technology, Shennan Circuits Co., Ltd., and Wus Printed Circuit Co., Ltd. successively hit their daily limit-up, creating a striking market spectacle. Meanwhile, companies like Shenghong Technology and Dingtai Gaoke have already completed remarkable tenfold price appreciations.
PCB Stocks Surge with Limit-Up Gains On February 26, the A-share market displayed mixed performance. By the midday close, the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.08%, while the Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.28%, and the ChiNext Index fell 0.39%. In terms of sectors, following significant gains in chemicals and metals over the previous two trading days, PCB-related concepts led the broader market. The circuit board index surged 4.62%, ranking first among all popular thematic gainers, while the copper-clad laminate index rose 3.31%, placing sixth.
Among individual stocks, multiple PCB concept stocks, including Han's Laser Technology, Wus Printed Circuit Co., Ltd., and Shennan Circuits Co., Ltd., reached their 10% daily limit-up. Others like Weier Gaoke, Wanyuantong, and Dongshan Precision also posted substantial gains.
Catalyst from NVIDIA's Strong Earnings The positive sentiment was partly driven by NVIDIA's better-than-expected first-quarter earnings report released on February 25, which spurred a broad rally in U.S. tech stocks. Industry insiders noted that NVIDIA's outstanding results significantly boosted global market confidence in the prospects of AI computing power, simultaneously enhancing the outlook for the upstream hardware supply chain. PCBs serve as the "backbone" for servers and AI accelerator cards, with demand directly linked to shipments of high-end chips. Consequently, the market anticipates that related PCB companies will directly benefit from this wave of computing capacity expansion.
Similar to this view, analyst Peng Zu also expressed optimism regarding PCB prospects and highlighted the sector for close monitoring in 2025. During his analysis of the PCB supply chain that year, he consistently followed Dingtai Gaoke when its stock price was relatively low. The company subsequently achieved a "tenfold in one year" milestone. As a leading upstream player, it not only performed strongly itself but also spurred the rise of other upstream companies.
Multiple Companies Expanding Their Presence Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), often referred to as the "mother of electronic products," are indispensable core components in the electronics industry. They act as carriers for electronic components and bridges for electrical connections, providing critical support and enabling circuit interconnections.
The PCB industry chain is clearly defined, broadly divided into upstream, midstream, and downstream segments. The upstream segment involves raw material suppliers, which account for the highest cost share, approximately 60% of total PCB costs. Key materials include copper-clad laminates (the most critical), copper foil, and fiberglass cloth. The midstream segment consists of PCB manufacturers, responsible for processing copper-clad laminates through etching, plating, and other techniques to produce various types of PCB boards. The downstream segment encompasses application areas, widely used in smartphones, AI servers, automotive electronics, communication equipment, consumer electronics, and nearly all modern electronic products.
Currently, several A-share listed companies are deeply integrated into the PCB industry. For instance, Shenghong Technology specializes in high-end HDI and high-layer count PCBs. Leveraging strategic, technological, and quality advantages, it has become a core partner for numerous leading domestic and international tech firms, establishing a benchmark position in fields like AI computing, AI robotics, autonomous driving, and virtual reality.
Another example is Dingtai Gaoke, which focuses on the design and manufacturing of micro-drills, milling cutters, and other cutting tools. Drill bits and milling cutters are specialized consumables used in PCB processing and manufacturing. The company is one of the largest PCB tool manufacturers in China and has established long-term, stable partnerships with renowned PCB producers globally, including Zhen Ding Technology Holding Limited, Founder Technology, Compeq Manufacturing Co., Ltd., HannStar Board Corporation, Shenghong Technology, Shennan Circuits Co., Ltd., Kinwong Electronic Co., Ltd., and Suntae Technology Co., Ltd.
Simultaneously, several listed companies have recently announced plans to enter or expand within the PCB industry.
Sixteen Stocks Projected to Double Profits The current PCB rally is driven by the confluence of three key factors. First is the exponential growth in AI computing demand, underscored by NVIDIA's strong earnings report. Furthermore, as AI servers and data centers rapidly deploy, higher performance requirements are being placed on PCBs. AI servers necessitate high-speed, high-frequency, high-layer count (18 layers and above), and high-end HDI PCBs. These high-end products carry significant technical barriers and higher value, directly driving a structural "volume and price increase" within the industry.
Looking ahead to 2026, the growth logic for the PCB sector remains solid, supported by continuous AI technology iteration and sustained demand growth.
The second factor is the price increase effect. If AI demand is the "trigger" for the PCB rally, then rising upstream raw material costs act as the "accelerant." Recently, Japanese semiconductor material manufacturer Resonac announced price hikes effective March 1 for PCB materials like copper-clad laminate and bonding sheets, with increases exceeding 30%. Since 2025, high prices for commodities like copper and gold, coupled with tight supplies of electronic fiberglass cloth and specialty resins, have placed significant cost pressure on copper-clad laminate manufacturers, strengthening their willingness to raise prices.
This trend is expected to continue into 2026. On one hand, standard copper-clad laminates benefit from supportive raw material prices and recovering downstream demand. On the other hand, the upgrade in AI server requirements will drive the adoption of higher-end materials like M8.5 or even M9 grade, substantially increasing product value.
The third factor is better-than-expected earnings realization, marking a transition for PCBs from "concept" to "value." According to analysis, 27 PCB concept stocks have issued their 2025 performance forecasts, with 16 projecting net profit growth of 100% or higher at the upper end of their guidance. As the proportion of high-value-added products in shipments increases, the PCB industry's earnings are poised to remain on a growth trajectory.
(Mentioned stocks are for illustrative analysis only and do not constitute investment recommendations.)