--- title: "Micron names Hanmi Semiconductor a top supplier again, countering Morgan Stanley's HBM bonder sell case" description: "Micron named Hanmi Semiconductor a top supplier for the second straight year, the only Korean company on a list with Applied Materials and Lam Research. With the third-quarter print due November 6, the customers' own verdict is now the strongest counter to the sell case." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Chips" published: 2026-10-22T16:03:48.468Z modified: 2026-10-22T16:03:48.468Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/micron-named-hanmi-semiconductor-top-supplier-a-second-year-against-morgan-stanley-s-sell-case-on-hbm-bonders language: en keywords: "HBM, Memory, Semiconductors, Analyst Calls, South Korea, Morgan Stanley" --- # Micron names Hanmi Semiconductor a top supplier again, countering Morgan Stanley's HBM bonder sell case > Micron named Hanmi Semiconductor a top supplier for the second straight year, the only Korean company on a list with Applied Materials and Lam Research. With the third-quarter print due November 6, the customers' own verdict is now the strongest counter to the sell case. [Micron](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/micron) just told its suppliers who it cannot do without, and it named [Hanmi Semiconductor](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/hanmi-semiconductor) twice in a row. At [Micron Supplier Day 2026 in Boise on October 20](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-it/2026/10/22/ZMCIWQX6IRCJ5IBV4HC562LRGA/), the American memory maker gave Hanmi its Outstanding Supplier Performance Award for the second consecutive year, and Hanmi was the only Korean company on a winner list that includes [Applied Materials](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/applied-materials) and [Lam Research](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/lam-research) [1][2]. The award is Micron's own evaluation of quality, innovation and collaboration, not Hanmi's marketing, so it cuts against [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley)'s sell case that Hanmi's HBM equipment franchise is a one-customer story priced for perfection. The machines are the reason. Hanmi's TC bonders stack DRAM dies vertically with heat and pressure, the step that turns DRAM into HBM, the memory stacked next to AI accelerators. Hanmi holds the number one global share in that field and launched TC Bonder 4, the industry's first HBM4 mass-production bonder, in 2025 [1][2]. ## US fabs are where the bonders go next Micron is building memory fabs in Idaho and New York, and [SK hynix](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/sk-hynix) broke ground on an HBM packaging plant in Indiana targeting mass production in 2029, so US-bound HBM capacity is exactly where Hanmi's bonders go next [4]. That is why chairman Kwak Dong-shin [opened Hanmi USA in San Jose this month](https://mbiz.heraldcorp.com/article/10906608), the company's fourth overseas base, to station engineers next to those fabs [4]. Vice chairman Kim Min-hyun collected the award while the company showed five new 2.5D packaging tools at SEMICON West and started an eighth factory in Incheon [1][3]. The customers are confirming the capability; the gap between capability and revenue is being closed by these builders, and the reward question is what the shares already price. ## What the shares already price The market says a lot is priced: the stock sat at KRW 212,000 on October 19 against [a KRW 267,143 average target](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/hanmi-semiconductor-unveils-hbm4-tools-target-for-hanmi-semiconductor-stock-is-krw-267-143/70367721), and consensus splits 3 buys against 4 sells [3]. Execution is the test, and the figures in hand point the right way: second-quarter revenue reached KRW 251.2 billion, up about 40% year on year, with operating profit up 51%, plus a fresh KRW 44.2 billion SK hynix order [3]. *Chart: **Revenue, profit and order book all point the same way into the November 6 print** Bar chart of recent Hanmi Semiconductor figures in KRW billions: Q2 2026 operating profit 130.3, Incheon factory investment 130, SK hynix order 44.2, Q2 2026 revenue 251.2* *Reported and announced amounts, Korean won billions. Revenue and operating profit are Q2 2026; the SK hynix TC-bonder order was received June 2026; the eighth factory investment was announced August 2026. Sources: [1][3][4]. [1][3][4]* The checkpoint is November 6, [when third-quarter numbers land](https://www.mk.co.kr/en/business/12182746) [3]. If deliveries keep the second-quarter pace, the customers' judgment stands and the sell case weakens further; if they slip, the valuation argument takes over. Learn the equipment layer either way: whoever masters the machines that make HBM is building the AI supply chain's load-bearing wall. ## Takeaway Micron's second straight top-supplier award for Hanmi is the customer's own verdict against Morgan Stanley's sell case; the November 6 third-quarter print decides whether execution or valuation wins. ## Sources 1. [Chosunbiz, Hanmi Semiconductor secures Micron top supplier award again, deepens HBM tie-up, 22 October 2026](https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-it/2026/10/22/ZMCIWQX6IRCJ5IBV4HC562LRGA/) 2. [Maeil Business, HANMI Semiconductor Named Top Supplier for the Second Consecutive Year, 22 October 2026](https://www.mk.co.kr/en/business/12182746) 3. [AD HOC NEWS, Hanmi Semiconductor unveils HBM4 tools; target KRW 267,143, 22 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/nebenwerte/hanmi-semiconductor-unveils-hbm4-tools-target-for-hanmi-semiconductor-stock-is-krw-267-143/70367721) 4. [Herald Economic, Hanmi Semiconductor establishes US subsidiary in Silicon Valley to target AI chip supply chain, 19 October 2026](https://mbiz.heraldcorp.com/article/10906608) --- Micron names Hanmi Semiconductor a top supplier again, countering Morgan Stanley's HBM bonder sell case — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/micron-named-hanmi-semiconductor-top-supplier-a-second-year-against-morgan-stanley-s-sell-case-on-hbm-bonders