Is ASE Technology's $10.5B CapEx Plan Key to Capturing AI Demand?
ASE Technology Holding ASX is increasing capital spending as demand for AI-related semiconductor packaging and testing remains strong. The company raised its 2026 capital expenditure (CapEx) plan by another $2 billion, taking total CapEx to about $10.5 billion. Of this, $4 billion is planned for factories and facilities, while $6.5 billion is earmarked for equipment. Management said the higher spending is mainly driven by strong demand for LEAP, although additional capacity is also needed for mainstream advanced packaging and testing.
The investment comes as ASX is facing capacity constraints across its business. In the second quarter of 2026, its blended utilization rate was 80% to 85%, with most capacity running close to full outside of equipment being placed into service. Management said its ability to support near-term growth is being limited by how quickly it can install equipment and build facilities. ASE Technology is currently working on 13 greenfield projects and eight brownfield projects, with these projects expected to provide capacity into 2028 and part of 2029.
The spending is also closely tied to the company's AI opportunity. The company expects 2026 LEAP service revenues to exceed its earlier $3.5 billion target and aims to double LEAP revenues in 2027. About 70% of its assembly and test equipment CapEx for 2026 is also expected to go toward leading-edge operations. Here, additional capacity can support further growth for ASX as the company remains well-positioned to benefit from strong demand across AI infrastructure, industrial, power, connectivity and storage applications.
However, the aggressive investment could pressure cash flow in the near term. Management expects the company's negative cash flow position to continue for some time because of heavy CapEx, although management said it has a healthy balance sheet and multiple funding sources to support the investment. The company also faces execution challenges as it manages a large number of projects at the same time. As a result, ASE Technology's ability to complete capacity expansion on schedule will be important to its efforts to meet growing AI-related demand.
How Competitors Fare Against ASE Technology
ASE Technology faces stiff competition from the likes of Amkor Technology AMKR and Intel INTC in advanced semiconductor packaging.
Amkor Technology continues to see strong demand for advanced packaging. The company expects its 2026 CapEx to remain between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, with about 65% to 70% of the spending allocated to facilities and the rest focused on HDFO, testing and other advanced packaging capacity. Amkor is also expanding its strategic relationships with TSMC and NVIDIA to support advanced packaging and AI infrastructure.
Intel raised its 2026 CapEx outlook to more than $20 billion and expects 2027 spending to be significantly higher, with most of the investment going toward its U.S. network. The company is also seeing strong customer interest in its EMIB-T advanced packaging technology, with a growing backlog and plans to ramp the technology into high-volume production in 2027.
ASX's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of ASX have surged 171.5% year to date compared with the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry’s return of 30.7%.
ASX YTD Price Return Performance
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From a valuation standpoint, ASX trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46X, higher than the industry’s average of 13.52X. ASX has a Value Score of D.
ASX Forward 12-Month P/E Ratio
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASX’s 2026 and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) implies year-over-year growth of 115.8% and 61.8%, respectively. EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have been revised up by 2 cents and 6 cents, respectively, over the past 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ASX currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
