US Stock Semiconductor Special (Part 2) - 4000x KLAC&AAOI&Shovel-in-Shovel ALAB

Let's continue discussing US stocks today. After all, it's the general trend, and following the principle of "fish where the fish are," we must become all-round market experts in the future. I might talk more about A-shares in the future, because with the current development of China's AI and robotics technology, I believe that in 5-10 years, China's AI and robotics could become the world's No. 1, and many people will envy these AI and robotics companies in A-shares.

Then let's still talk about a few semiconductor-related companies that have performed well recently.

1.KLAC

KLA Corporation is one of the leading companies in the global semiconductor equipment industry and currently the absolute leader in global wafer inspection and measurement equipment.

KLA mainly provides:

-Wafer inspection equipment (Inspection)

-Wafer metrology equipment (Metrology)

-Yield management software (Yield Management)

-AI defect analysis system

-PCB inspection

-Advanced packaging inspection

-Process control systems

These products run through the entire chip manufacturing process. Why is chip inspection so important?

The chip manufacturing process roughly goes from silicon wafer - lithography - etching - deposition - ion implantation - cleaning - KLA inspection - continue to the next layer.

Because a chip may have many layers, you can't wait until everything is done to check, because the cost of a wafer is tens of thousands of dollars, so basically a few layers are made and then inspected.

In a chip with a line width of only 20-30nm, even a single dust particle (100nm) can ruin the entire chip. Therefore, during chip production, inspection is necessary to improve product yield, and improving yield means saving costs. When we talked about TSMC, we explained why TSMC can win in advanced packaging, which is due to product yield.

With the current semiconductor boom, KLA's stock price has also risen. Currently, its market cap is 363 billion, P/E ratio is 70, and the stock price has recently hit new highs. If you look at the weekly K-line, this stock has almost no major pullbacks. From the 2009 low of $1.7 to the current $278, it has increased 163 times. If calculated from 1982, when it was $0.07, it has increased 4,000 times. So there are quite a few amazing companies in US stocks.

Recent financial data is also good. You can check it yourself. Anyway, it's at new highs, so short-term entry is not recommended. But from historical performance, this company is worth long-term attention, because the chip inspection track has a moat. After all, chip inspection is at the nanometer level, requiring high-end manufacturing and technology, which ordinary companies really cannot do.

2.AAOI

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. is a US optical communication company that mainly produces: optical modules, lasers, optical devices, and fiber optic communication equipment. In the NVIDIA ecosystem, similar companies are Coherent and Lumentum Holdings. The domestic counterparts are similar to Zhongji Innolight, Eoptolink, and Accelink Technologies.

The main feature of this company is that it does almost everything, from lasers to components to optical modules, all produced in-house, so its product cost is low and gross margin is higher.

Currently, its market cap is 12 billion, but its net income is not good, having been negative for several years. The main reason is that AAOI is fully betting on the next generation of AI data center products (800G, 1.6T single-mode transceivers, silicon photonics solutions) and is also expanding production, so it is currently in an investment phase.

The stock price is also at a new high. Compared to $1.7 in 2023, it has now increased nearly 100 times to $150.

3.Astera Labs

Astera Labs is a semiconductor company focused on high-speed connectivity for AI data centers, specializing in solving the pain point of "high-speed signal transmission" in AI clusters.

AI training/inference clusters require extremely high bandwidth and low latency interconnection between massive GPUs, but long-distance high-speed signals can attenuate and distort. Astera Labs' products "repair and enhance" these signals through retimers, controllers, and software to ensure reliable data transmission.

Core products:

1.PCIe Retimer: Almost all AI servers need this, and it is the company's most profitable product.

2.CXL Memory Controller: A memory link controller that could be the biggest growth point in the future. AI servers need more and more memory, so this is very important for content sharing control in AI.

3.Smart Fabric Switch: GPU connector

4.COSMOS software: A software platform

So from its products, this company is a "shovel seller to shovel sellers" in the AI era. Personally, I think the company's niche is quite impressive.

Currently, its market cap is 78 billion. Except for a net income of 200 million in 2025, it was previously loss-making. Now, its Q1 2026 financial report shows a net income of 80 million, so it is likely to beat expectations this year.

The stock price is currently at new highs. If calculated from $38 in 2024, it has increased more than 10 times. Currently, institutional estimates for 2026 revenue are 1.5 billion. Based on Q1's net income rate of 26%, the 2026 net income would be 1.5*0.26=390 million, so the current dynamic P/E = 78/0.39 = 200. So it is certainly overvalued at this point, not suitable for short-term entry.

In conclusion, the three companies mentioned above are quite distinctive, basically not suitable for short-term entry as they are all at new highs, but they are all worth long-term attention.