Kuala Lumpur, 19 September 2025 — Shares of UWC Bhd, a semiconductor and electronics manufacturing group, leapt 9.61% to RM3.65 by mid-afternoon trading on Friday, powered by renewed optimism over a recent NVIDIA-led technology partnership involving one of UWC’s major clients, dubbed Customer I. The strong move also came following a bullish reiteration of UWC’s outlook by Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB), which raised its target price from RM3.30 to RM4.20, citing expectations of a turnaround in backend (BE) orders tied to the NVIDIA deal.
HLIB’s optimism centers on several key assumptions. First, that Customer I—whose contribution to UWC revenue dropped sharply from about RM180 million in FY2022, and then RM107 million in FY2023, to below RM30 million by FY2025—will see its orders rebound thanks to the NVIDIA partnership. Production capacity for this customer is currently underutilised, with utilisation reportedly below 30%.
Based on this optimism, HLIB has raised its revenue assumptions for UWC from its Customer I-related business to RM64 million in financial year 2026 and RM148 million in FY2027, which implies an uplift in earnings forecasts of approximately 11% for FY26 and 37% for FY27. The brokerage also pointed to UWC’s growing front-end (FE) semiconductor operations as another upside—believing that it complements the expected BE recovery and provides margin improvement potential.
What This Says About UWC’s Prospects
While the NVIDIA deal is still unfolding, the market reaction suggests investors are betting UWC will benefit not just from recovering demand but also from being well positioned in the broader semiconductor supply chain resurgence. If the BE orders from Customer I materialise and FE operations scale well, UWC could post significantly improved profits. However, HLIB also noted key risks: potential delays in customer orders, chip-industry capital expenditure constraints, and broader macro / semiconductor cycle headwinds.
