15 August 2026 | 5:58PM HKT Equity Research SMIC (0981.HK): AI demand to support UT rate and ASP ahead; Capacity expansion continues; Buy SMIC's 2Q26 GM beat our estimates (report link). In 2H26, we expect the company to be driven by (1) continuous capacity expansion, (2) Rising demand on AI related analog/ logic chips with higher ASP, riding on Gen-AI trend, and (3) growing demand from local clients to secure the supply chain. The company capacity increased to 1.097mn wafer per month (wpm) by 2Q26 in 8'' e ...