355 Days! PCB Segment Track Leader with Over 11x Gains Exposed!

Waterfront | Water’s Edge

On March 17, as part of the “Steady Happiness” theme—significant adjustments occurred in the computing power sector’s CPO and PCB segments, with CPO falling by 5% and PCB dropping over 3%. These adjustments relate to the realization of expectations (such as NVIDIA GTC), cooling sentiment, and capital shifts. However, short-term corrections should not be viewed as bearish signals but rather as new opportunities.

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From a long-term perspective, investment opportunities in CPO and PCB driven by technological iteration and industry expansion are unlikely to end abruptly and may rotate over time. Recently, many stocks that doubled or even multiplied tenfold are in this sector. Despite sector differentiation, on March 17, stocks like Demingli, China-UK Technology, and Jinan Guoji continued to rise strongly, reaching new highs or stage highs. So, after short-term divergence, where are the long-term, certain opportunities in CPO and PCB?

CPO and PCB Short-term Divergence Does Not Change Long-term Opportunities

Demingli and others continue to hit new highs

On March 17, indices and sectors faced pressure; for example, the ChiNext index opened high but declined over 2%. CPO and PCB, which have been in a long-term bullish trend, showed significant divergence. Notably, high-priced stocks above 100 yuan, such as Dekeli, Tianfutongxin, Guangku Technology, Luobote, and Yuanjie Technology, saw sharp declines. Meanwhile, some stocks still attracted increased capital, like Demingli, which after a 10cm limit-up on March 16, continued to rise against the trend on March 17. Some mid- and low-priced stocks also received capital inflows, such as China-UK Technology, which has gained over 50% since March.

Looking at a longer cycle, short-term divergence in CPO and PCB does not alter their upward long-term trend, and many representative stocks remain highly active recently. For example, in the PCB concept, Jinneng Solar closed with a 20cm limit-up on March 16; on the same day, Jinan Guoji hit a 10cm limit-up and reached a new stage high; Lite Optoelectronics accelerated its breakout, rising nearly 40% since late February.

Recently, the performance of CPO and PCB concepts has been linked to short-term events like NVIDIA’s 2026 GTC conference (March 16-19), which announced several technological breakthroughs, such as the next-generation AI chip architecture Feynman. The correction on March 17 may relate to NVIDIA’s technical path, expectations, and sentiment disturbances. However, the long-term growth logic and industry trends remain intact. For example, PCB will benefit long-term from core computing infrastructure and explosive demand for high-end materials. Notably, Ding Tai High-tech, a leader in the PCB niche, has increased by 11 times over 355 trading days since September 24, 2024 (see Figure 1).

CITIC Securities believes that since early 2026, the PCB sector has lagged, but the underlying growth logic of the AI PCB industry remains unchanged and is strengthening. The sector has many potential catalysts, with incremental growth expected in the coming years. From performance and valuation perspectives, leading companies’ earnings expectations are gradually being realized, and valuation levels have room for further upward adjustment. Currently, the outlook for PCB’s future upward momentum is optimistic.

Bian Huizong has long tracked and studied opportunities in CPO and PCB, excelling at identifying low-entry points for leading stocks. Many of his case studies in “Bian Learning and Doing” later experienced strong market performance, such as Demingli (studied on June 5, 2025, see Figure 2) and Lite Optoelectronics (studied on February 11, 2026, see Figure 3).

Although CPO and PCB show short-term divergence, their long-term rotation opportunities will continue. The next “10x stock” may already be locked in by major players. So, how can investors grasp the upcoming long-term, high-confidence opportunities in CPO and PCB? Where in the performance visibility chain is the best direction?

PCB—A Certain Opportunity in the Computing Power Sector

Benefiting Long-term from Computing Infrastructure

What is PCB? Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is the support and electrical connection medium for electronic components. It combines insulating substrates with conductive copper foil circuits to mechanically fix electronic components and transmit electrical signals. PCB plays a crucial role in AI computing power, connecting and supporting AI chips and electronic components, ensuring high-speed data transfer, stable power supply, and efficient heat dissipation, directly impacting AI performance and reliability.

From a long-term perspective, PCB is a highly certain industry trend in the computing power sector. As a core component of AI hardware, PCB benefits deeply from the rapid growth of the global AI server market. The demand for high-layer and HDI boards continues to explode, ushering in a high prosperity cycle of volume and price increases.

Technological iteration in PCB is also driving industry heating. According to the latest supply chain survey by renowned analyst Guo Mingchi, NVIDIA has started testing the next-generation copper-clad laminate (CCL) material M10 with PCB manufacturers. If testing proceeds as planned, mass production could be scheduled for the second half of 2027, initiating a new wave of large-scale procurement of AI server PCB materials, which could catalyze performance for related suppliers.

On March 17, despite some divergence in the PCB sector, long-term outlooks show improving valuation as performance is realized. Recently, stocks aligned with long-term trends have reported better-than-expected growth.

Among nearly 180 tracked stocks, 105 have disclosed 2025 earnings forecasts (some with earnings reports), with 73 projecting positive growth upper limits, including Honghe Technology, Jinan Guoji, Huibai New Materials, Bojie Shares, Huazheng New Materials, Nanya New Materials, Shengyi Electronics, Aike Optoelectronics, BaiAo Intelligent, all with over 3x growth (see Table 1). Many of these outperforming companies have also performed strongly recently; for example, Nanya New Materials, with a projected 416.69% increase in 2025 earnings, saw a 378.65% YoY increase in net profit in the earnings report, and its stock hit a new high on March 16.

Price hikes and capacity expansions

PCB Industry Chain’s Prosperity Continues to Rise

The PCB industry chain includes upstream raw materials, midstream manufacturing, and downstream applications. Upstream raw materials include core materials: copper-clad laminates (CCL), accounting for about 30-40% of PCB costs and being key performance determinants. High-frequency, high-speed copper-clad laminates (like M7/M8/M9) are in high demand due to AI server growth, with high technical barriers. Auxiliary materials include copper foil (mainly electrolytic copper foil), glass fiber cloth (high-end glass fiber cloth with high technical barriers), and epoxy resins. The midstream manufacturing segment produces rigid, flexible (FPC), high-end HDI, and packaging substrates. Downstream applications include AI servers, automotive electronics, consumer electronics, and communications.

Recently, the industry chain has seen price increases and capacity expansion actions, indicating sustained demand. For example, from March 1, Japanese semiconductor materials giant Resonac raised prices for copper foil substrates (CCL) and adhesive films by over 30%. Additionally, major electronic materials manufacturer Mitsubishi Gas Chemical also raised prices for related materials, covering core upstream raw materials like CCL. As CCL is a high-cost core raw material, price increases by leading companies will further transmit to high-end manufacturing segments like HDI and high-frequency PCB, raising overall industry chain prices.

Furthermore, many companies are expanding capacity. For instance, Zhaochi announced plans to start PCB production line investments in late 2025 to support optical communications and Mini/MicroLED businesses. Leading stock Ding Tai High-tech is accelerating the construction of its “PCB Micro-Drill Needle Production Base” (drill needles are essential precision consumables for computing hardware).

Besides Zhaochi and Ding Tai, other companies are also revealing expansion and order fulfillment in PCB segments, such as Ultrasound Electronics, Putian Technology, and Rongda Photonics (see Table 2).

(Note: The stocks mentioned are for illustrative analysis only and do not constitute buy or sell recommendations.)