Taiwan Semiconductor Said to Weigh 20% CoWoS Price Hike; Taiwan Index Futures Night Session Surges 774 Points as Investment Trusts Buy for 11th Straight Day

US technology stocks rebounded, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging 3.6% in a single session and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing's ADR climbing nearly 3% in tandem, driving the Taiwan Index Futures night session up a staggering 774 points and injecting a shot in the arm for the long side after days of choppy trading in the Taiwan stock market. At the same time, market talk emerged that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW) is evaluating a new round of price adjustments for advanced packaging, with CoWoS quotes — undersupplied relative to demand — possibly rising 10% to 20%, a key theme behind the night-session rally.

The Taiwan stock market extended the night-session momentum after the open on the 28th. As of 9:33 a.m., the weighted index stood at 46,839.96, up 743.73 points or 1.61%, with turnover of about NT$244.375 billion (approximately $7.5 billion). Taiwan Semiconductor shares traded at NT$2,425, up NT$25 or 1.04%, steadying the broader market.

CoWoS Shortage: Customers Said to Be 'Willing to Pay More to Secure Delivery'

The price-hike chatter stems from downstream customers' hunger for advanced packaging capacity amid the generative AI boom. Industry sources say Taiwan Semiconductor and its packaging and testing partners are preparing a fresh round of price adjustments, with quotes for CoWoS advanced packaging — currently in extreme shortage — possibly rising 10% to 20%. There is even talk that major international technology companies are taking the stance of "willing to place orders at higher prices as long as delivery schedules can be secured."

The information, however, remains unconfirmed and cannot be treated as a formal announcement by Taiwan Semiconductor. Market participants cautioned that the magnitude of the increase is currently only what industry sources have relayed, and that actual implementation details and scope have yet to be finalized.

On capacity planning, analysts estimate Taiwan Semiconductor's monthly CoWoS capacity could top 130,000 wafers in 2026 and further challenge the 200,000-wafer mark in 2027. Institutional investors believe that if capacity and pricing rise in tandem, it would not only signal solid order momentum but also underscore Taiwan Semiconductor's pricing power in the AI supply chain.

Note: Capacity and pricing figures are market estimates and relayed by industry sources, not official guidance or announcements from Taiwan Semiconductor.

Domestic Capital Becomes the Mainstay of Support; Yeh Yu-shuo: 'The Fourth Institutional Investor Really Has Money'

Beyond industry fundamentals, trading flows are also a key underpinning of this rebound. Investment trusts bought a net NT$23.645 billion (approximately $729.2 million) in a single day and have stood on the buy side for 11 consecutive trading days, with cumulative net buying reaching NT$179.969 billion (approximately $5.5 billion) — the biggest contributor to countering the selling pressure from foreign investors.

Financial commentator Yeh Yu-shuo, writing on Facebook, analyzed that the core source of this massive capital momentum from investment trusts is Taiwanese investors' enthusiastic subscriptions to Taiwan stock ETFs, with retail investors channeling funds into a torrent through regular monthly investment plans or large lump-sum purchases. He said bluntly that "we, the fourth institutional investor, really do have a lot of money," and argued that the Taiwan stock market's ability to quickly bottom out and rebound after sharp swings comes down to "Taiwan Semiconductor and Taiwanese money, after all!"

Institutional investors noted that the sustainability of domestic buying will be one of the key indicators for whether this rebound can extend, and that investors should watch whether foreign investors shift from selling to buying and whether local buying maintains the same intensity.

Global Giants' Capex Keeps Climbing; Long-Term Demand Supported

Long-term demand for the semiconductor supply chain is also being supported by the capital expenditure race among international technology giants. Meta expects capital expenditure of $135 billion to $145 billion this year (about NT$4.7 trillion) and has launched a $100 billion-scale financing; Anthropic has deepened a partnership with Broadcom worth as much as $161.2 billion (about NT$5.2 trillion) — both injecting real demand into the AI chip and advanced packaging supply chain.

This week's market focus remains on heavyweight US earnings from Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon, as well as the outcome of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting. Institutional investors believe that with Taiwan Semiconductor holding firm and domestic capital providing sustained support, the 774-point surge in the Taiwan Index Futures night session has given battered bulls a breather and once again demonstrated that local capital is the Taiwan stock market's most solid backstop.

Impact Analysis

If the CoWoS price-hike talk is ultimately confirmed, it would give Taiwan Semiconductor another source of gross margin improvement following advanced-process pricing, and help it cement its bargaining position in the AI chip supply chain. For packaging and testing partners, it would mean simultaneous improvement in order visibility and pricing terms.

For downstream IC design houses and cloud service providers, however, higher prices would raise AI chip packaging costs, and whether those costs are passed through to end-product prices bears watching. On the investment side, short-term market sentiment is clearly being driven by news flow, with the price-hike theme and domestic net buying reinforcing each other, but the information has yet to be confirmed by the company, and investors should remain mindful of the gap between headlines and fundamentals.