Bank of America Securities has issued a research report stating that it maintains a "Buy" rating on ASMPT (00522) with an unchanged target price of HK$310. The firm has raised its 2026 earnings per share forecast by 6% to HK$4.24, primarily reflecting better-than-expected second-quarter results. The 2027 and 2028 earnings per share forecasts remain largely unchanged at HK$6.62 and HK$9.43, respectively. The bank projects sales for 2026, 2027, and 2028 to reach HK$19.692 billion, HK$27.765 billion, and HK$38.424 billion, respectively.

The report highlights that ASMPT's second-quarter performance exceeded market expectations. During the period, sales amounted to HK$4.936 billion, representing a 45% year-on-year increase (or 52% growth from continuing operations). The gross margin stood at 42%, the operating margin at 16%, and earnings per share reached HK$1, more than doubling year-on-year. All these figures were above both market consensus and the bank's forecasts. Management has provided optimistic guidance for third-quarter sales, with a midpoint forecast indicating a 46% year-on-year increase, driven by strong orders for AI chip and server-related back-end equipment, including thermal compression bonding (TCB) and SMT, with order volumes nearly doubling year-on-year.

Bank of America noted that ASMPT's strong growth appears to be primarily driven by non-memory and logic customers in mainland China, Taiwan, and Europe, while the shipment growth of TCB for HBM has been limited, as most HBM packaging is carried out in Korea.