Gelonghui, April 26 | Bank of America Securities released a report stating that ASMPT CEO Huang Zida provided a positive outlook on the thermocompression welding (TCB) and hybrid welding (HB) business at the first quarter earnings conference of this year, based on three major reasons, including strong growth in demand for artificial intelligence chips; expanding high-bandwidth memory (HBM) capacity using more advanced TCB; and confirming HB orders. The bank lowered ASMPT's earnings forecast per share for this year by 26% based on a reduction in traditional equipment sales forecasts, but raised next year's earnings per share by 5% due to an increase in TCB orders. Furthermore, the company's earnings forecasts per share for 2025 and 2026 are expected to recover to HK$6 and HK$8, respectively, compared to HK$2 and HK$3 in 2023 and 2024. Considering the topic of artificial intelligence, the bank raised its valuation base from the original forecast of the consolidated market account ratio of 2.8 times this year and next to 3.1 times, which is close to the historical high of 3.3 times. The bank accordingly raised the ASMPT target price from HK$117 to HK$130, reaffirming the “buy” rating.