As the Q1 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, including Amkor (NASDAQ: AMKR) and its peers.

The semiconductor industry is driven by demand for advanced electronic products like smartphones, PCs, servers, and data storage. The need for technologies like artificial intelligence, 5G networks, and smart cars is also creating the next wave of growth for the industry. Keeping up with this dynamism requires new tools that can design, fabricate, and test chips at ever smaller sizes and more complex architectures, creating a dire need for semiconductor capital manufacturing equipment.

The 14 semiconductor manufacturing stocks we track reported a very strong Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.2% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 5.5% above.

Luckily, semiconductor manufacturing stocks have performed well with share prices up 22.6% on average since the latest earnings results.

Amkor (NASDAQ: AMKR)

Operating through a largely Asian facility footprint, Amkor Technologies (NASDAQ: AMKR) provides outsourced packaging and testing for semiconductors.

Amkor reported revenues of $1.68 billion, up 27.5% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with a beat of analysts’ EPS and operating income estimates.

“Amkor delivered a strong start to 2026 with record first quarter revenue driven by broad-based end market demand,” said Kevin Engel, Amkor’s president and chief executive officer.

Interestingly, the stock is up 23.2% since reporting and currently trades at $93.15.

Is now the time to buy Amkor? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q1: Kulicke and Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC)

Headquartered in Singapore, Kulicke & Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) is a provider of production equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices

Kulicke and Soffa reported revenues of $242.6 million, up 49.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 5.5%. The business had a stunning quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and operating income estimates.

Kulicke and Soffa delivered the highest guidance raise among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 33.9% since reporting. It currently trades at $125.61.

Is now the time to buy Kulicke and Soffa? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q1: Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB)

Sporting a global footprint of facilities, Photronics (NASDAQ: PLAB) is a manufacturer of photomasks, templates used to transfer patterns onto semiconductor wafers.

Photronics reported revenues of $209.9 million, flat year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.8%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations and a significant miss of analysts’ operating income estimates.

Photronics delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, weakest guidance update, and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 36.8% since the results and currently trades at $33.84.

Read our full analysis of Photronics’s results here.

FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM)

With customers across the foundry and fabless markets, FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) is a US-based provider of test and measurement technologies for semiconductors.

FormFactor reported revenues of $226.1 million, up 32% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also put up a beat of analysts’ EPS and operating income estimates.

The stock is up 15.4% since reporting and currently trades at $156.44.

Read our full, actionable report on FormFactor here, it’s free.

Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL)

Moving away from a low margin storage device management chips in one of the biggest semiconductor business model pivots of the past decade, Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a fabless designer of special purpose data processing and networking chips used by data centers, communications carriers, enterprises, and autos.

Marvell Technology reported revenues of $2.42 billion, up 27.6% year on year. This result met analysts’ expectations. It was a strong quarter as it also logged a significant improvement in its inventory levels and revenue guidance for next quarter topping analysts’ expectations.

The stock is up 52.8% since reporting and currently trades at $303.56.

Read our full, actionable report on Marvell Technology here, it’s free.

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand-wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Strong Momentum Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.