BE Semiconductor Industries' stock tumbled on Thursday after a South Korean technology publication reported that major players in the semiconductor industry are discussing a notable relaxation of thickness requirements for forthcoming generations of high bandwidth memory (HBM). The report, citing industry sources, suggested changes that could reduce the short-term urgency for adopting the hybrid bonding technology around which BESI has built much of its growth thesis.
The Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer’s shares fell to €163.90 from a prior close of €188.65, extending a decline that places the stock more than 15% below its 52-week high of €197.60.
What the report said
The ZDNet Korea piece, referencing industry participants, said members of JEDEC - the international semiconductor standards body whose membership includes Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Nvidia, TSMC, Intel and AMD - are reportedly discussing raising the thickness standard for next-generation HBM. Under the current HBM4 specification the thickness standard is 775 micrometers. The discussion is said to consider increasing that range to between 825 and 900 micrometers or more for HBM4E and HBM5, which will involve 20-layer DRAM stacking.
The report added that thicknesses of 900 micrometers or higher are already being mentioned by some sources, and noted that JEDEC typically finalises significant standards roughly one to one-and-a-half years before commercialisation.
Why it matters to BESI
The implications for BESI are straightforward. A relaxed HBM thickness standard would reduce the technical pressure on chipmakers to transition away from established thermocompression bonding equipment. That could slow adoption of hybrid bonding, a technology that is more precise but also more expensive and central to BESI’s long-term strategy.
By way of comparison included in the report, a hybrid bonder costs about $3 million, while thermocompression bonding equipment is priced at roughly $1-2 million. The hybrid approach can also carry a higher total cost of ownership because of additional processing steps and stricter cleanroom requirements.
Industry drivers and packaging trends
Industry officials cited two factors behind the push to relax thickness standards: the physical limits of current thinning and bonding processes when stacking 20 DRAM layers, and the growing influence of TSMC’s next-generation SoIC packaging process. TSMC-SoIC stacks system semiconductors vertically, which naturally increases overall package thickness. The report said Nvidia and Amazon Web Services are planning to adopt TSMC-SoIC.
Broker view and forecasts
UBS, which kept a "buy" rating and a €216 price target on BESI, argued that hybrid bonding’s performance and thermal-management benefits would continue to encourage adoption. UBS pointed to Samsung’s plans to use hybrid bonding at HBM4E as evidence that the technology is maturing.
The brokerage projects BESI revenue to recover from €591 million in fiscal 2025 to €1.23 billion in 2027, and expects EBIT margins to expand from 29.3% to 42.3% over the same timeframe.
Additional evaluation
The article also noted the presence of AI-driven stock screening tools that evaluate BESI among many companies using a broad set of financial metrics, and referenced past examples of stocks identified by such systems. The report did not change the factual details above.
Note: The article presents industry-sourced reporting about standards discussions and published broker forecasts. It does not provide independent confirmation of final JEDEC decisions or of future market outcomes.