Lam Research Lifts 2026 Wafer Fab Equipment Outlook to Low $150B Range

Anthropic has signed a computing deal worth at least $11.6 billion with Akamai, sending shares of European companies tied to the artificial intelligence buildout higher on Friday. Under the agreement, Akamai will provide Anthropic with access to central processing units, while Anthropic will receive a warrant to buy Series B shares at $111.33 each, convertible into 7.7 million common shares. The contract is Akamai's largest ever and marks an acceleration of its push beyond its core content delivery and cybersecurity businesses; the company expects to spend about $5.5 billion on capital expenditures tied to the agreement, more than six times its total 2025 capital spending. The deal follows a $1.8 billion computing agreement between the two companies earlier this year, as Anthropic expands capacity for its Claude AI software and strikes deals with providers including Alphabet's Google and Elon Musk's SpaceX. In European trading, ASML Holding rose 2.3%, BE Semiconductor Industries gained 1.6%, ASM International added 1.03%, Infineon Technologies climbed 1.2% and STMicroelectronics advanced 2.01%, while data-center-linked Siemens Energy and Prysmian each rose 2%.

Onto Innovation has raised its full-year 2026 advanced packaging growth outlook to at least 80% from more than 50% previously, citing strong demand for its Dragonfly G5 inspection platform. The company generated $343.1 million of quarterly revenue, up 35.3% year over year, while its inspection business, dominated by Dragonfly systems, grew approximately 30% sequentially on demand from 2.5D logic and HBM applications. Onto launched Dragonfly G5 in March 2026 and disclosed in April that the platform had been qualified for 2.5D AI packaging applications, with demand strongest among HBM manufacturers and AI-focused OSATs, including more than $200 million in Dragonfly orders from a single OSAT, most slated for 2027. Management said demand for the Dragonfly platform is expected to grow more than 50% in 2026 from 2025 and expects further growth in 2027 with no signs of customer overcapacity. Competitors are also benefiting from the same AI-driven spending: KLA now expects 2026 wafer fabrication equipment spending in the low-$150 billion range, up from $135-$140 billion, and Applied Materials expects advanced packaging revenue to grow more than 70% in 2026, up from its prior outlook of more than 50%.

Forecasts from 12 private think tanks and other institutions for the Bank of Japan's September National Short-Term Economic Survey of Enterprises, or Tankan, to be released on the 1st of next month, were all in by the 25th. The average forecast for the business conditions diffusion index, which gauges corporate sentiment, stands at plus 26 for large manufacturers, a 4-point improvement from the previous June survey. The dominant view is that demand related to artificial intelligence and semiconductors will lift sentiment, and this would mark the sixth consecutive quarter of improvement for manufacturers. While industries producing equipment and materials related to semiconductor manufacturing, such as electrical machinery and production machinery, are analyzed as performing well, it has been pointed out that automobiles may act as a drag due to sluggish growth in export volumes. The average forecast for large non-manufacturers is 36, down 1 point from the June survey, with many companies expecting flat or slightly worse conditions due to weak inbound demand and rising costs such as fuel and labor expenses. Based on this Tankan, the Bank of Japan plans to analyze risks such as higher crude oil prices and AI-driven upward pressure on prices, and to look for the timing of an additional interest rate hike.