Leading Enterprises Ramp Up Expansion! PCB Continues to Strengthen as High-Growth Stocks Emerge for 2026

The PCB (Printed Circuit Board) sector performed strongly in the early trading session on March 20, with Powertech Technology and Jiejia Weichuang both surging over 10%. Zhongying Technology, Nanya New Materials, Xunjie Xing, Xin Qi Microelectronics, and Han’s Laser also saw significant gains. Since 2025, the PCB sector index has increased by over 100%.

Continued Recovery in the PCB Market

The ongoing strength of the PCB sector is driven by the explosive growth of the AI industry, which has boosted the global PCB market. According to Prismark, the global PCB market size is projected to reach $84.9 billion in 2025, a 15.4% year-over-year increase; in the fourth quarter alone, the market size is expected to be $22.8 billion, up 18%, with growth momentum continuing to strengthen.

Structurally, HDI boards and high-multilayer boards (over 18 layers) are the core drivers of this growth: the HDI market size is $15.7 billion, up 25.6%; high-multilayer boards are $4.5 billion, up 85.5%, significantly outpacing the overall industry growth, reflecting high-density, high-layer demand from AI servers, data centers, and other high-end computing scenarios. Additionally, the packaging substrate market is valued at $14.7 billion, up 16.9%, maintaining steady growth.

AI Drives High Growth in PCB Demand

According to TrendForce data, North American CSP manufacturers are continuously increasing investments in AI infrastructure, which is expected to drive a more than 28% year-over-year increase in global AI server shipments in 2026.

AI servers and data center construction are expected to become the largest downstream applications for PCBs, significantly boosting demand for HDI boards, high-multilayer boards, and packaging substrates. Prismark forecasts that by 2029, the total PCB demand from AI servers and data centers will reach $25.7 billion, accounting for 22% of the overall PCB market.

Demand for HDI boards is particularly noteworthy. Prismark expects that by 2025, demand from AI servers and data centers for HDI boards will double year-over-year. By 2029, this demand is projected to reach $4.697 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.6% from 2024 to 2029. Moreover, the share of HDI boards in the global PCB market is expected to increase from 18.51% in 2025 to 19.49% in 2029, making it the largest application area.

Regionally, Prismark’s forecast shows that China and other Asia-Pacific regions will lead global growth in PCB markets. By 2025, China’s PCB market size is expected to reach $48.5 billion, a 17.6% increase; other Asia-Pacific regions will reach $24.3 billion, up 13.8%. Driven by AI infrastructure development, China’s PCB market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 8.7% from 2024 to 2029, with other Asia-Pacific regions growing at 8.6%, both significantly faster than the global average.

Guosheng Securities states that the growth in AI server shipments will likely lead to both volume and price increases in PCBs. The firm notes that the value of PCB products is rising sharply due to: 1) increased layer counts and process complexity; 2) greater functional integration. Currently, AI server design is undergoing a structural shift—from NVIDIA’s Rubin platform with wireless architecture to high-layer HDI designs developed by major cloud providers’ own ASIC servers. PCBs are no longer just circuit carriers but are becoming core components for computing power, entering an era of high frequency, high power consumption, and high density.

Frequent Expansion by Listed Companies

Amid high demand, many A-share PCB listed companies are signaling expansion plans, often targeting high-end segments. On March 18, Pengding Holdings announced approval for its wholly owned subsidiary Qingding Precision Electronics (Huaian) Co., Ltd. (hereafter “Qingding Precision”) to sign an investment agreement with the Huaian Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee, planning to invest 11 billion yuan to build a high-end PCB manufacturing base.

Besides Pengding, companies like Shenghong Technology and Shulian Co., Ltd. have also disclosed investment plans. Shenghong’s 2026 investment plan, released on March 13, shows the company and its subsidiaries plan to invest up to 20 billion yuan, with fixed assets investments not exceeding 18 billion yuan, covering new factories, construction, equipment purchases, and automation upgrades, with equity investments up to 2 billion yuan.

Shulian announced on March 7 that its wholly owned subsidiary, Kunshan Huli Microelectronics Co., Ltd., will invest approximately 5.5 billion yuan to build a new high-layer, high-frequency, high-speed, high-density interconnect, and high-throughput PCB production project and supporting facilities.

Research analyst Fu Yifu from Sushang Bank states that the concentrated deployment of high-end capacity by PCB companies is mainly due to the explosive structural demand driven by AI development. The surge in demand for high-multilayer, high-frequency, high-speed, and high-density interconnect PCBs from AI servers and edge devices has become a key growth engine for the industry.

High Growth Stocks with Performance Forecasts

Under the industry’s high prosperity, institutions are generally optimistic about the performance of PCB sector stocks. Based on the first three quarters of 2025 net profit attributable to shareholders exceeding 100 million yuan, data from Eastmoney Choice shows that 18 stocks are forecasted by institutions to see over 20% year-over-year growth in 2026.

Dongshan Precision ranks first, with an estimated 175.62% increase in 2026. XingSen Technology, Nanya New Materials, and Shenghong Technology are also expected to see their profits double, with projected increases of 134.72%, 112.26%, and 109.79%, respectively.

These stocks have also performed remarkably since the beginning of 2025. As of the early close on March 20, Nanya New Materials has surged over 600%, Shenghong Technology over 500%, and Dongshan Precision over 300%.

Dongan Securities states that although PCB performance in Q4 2025 experienced some disturbances, the growth logic for 2026 remains unchanged. The new NVIDIA Rubin platform is expected to reach mass production in H2, and ASIC clients are accelerating volume deployment this year. PCB specifications are expected to further upgrade, significantly increasing value. As new technologies like orthogonal substrates and CoWoP are gradually implemented, the value of PCBs will grow even more.

(Article source: Eastmoney Research Center)