I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.China’s top makers of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) – ubiquitous components known as the “rice of the electronics industry” – saw their shares rise on Friday after reporting ballooning first-half sales and profits amid soaring demand linked to AI. Shenzhen-listed shares of Chaozhou Three-Circle Company (CCTC) and Guangdong Fenghua Advanced Technology, two of the country’s largest MLCC makers, gained nearly 1 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, in morning trading. CCTC’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose more than 4 per cent. The rally followed strong first-half earnings reported on Thursday. CCTC’s revenue surged 55 per cent to 6.4 billion yuan (US$952.3 million), while its net profit jumped 56 per cent to 1.9 billion yuan. On the same day, domestic rival Guangdong Fenghua said its net profit for the first half of 2026 rose 74 per cent year on year to 290.3 million yuan. Sales increased 26 per cent to 3.5 billion yuan. CCTC attributed the increase in sales to improving market sentiment and a recovery in MLCC prices. For the second half of 2026, CCTC said it would step up its push into high-end MLCCs for the server and automotive sectors, seeking breakthroughs in – and mass production of – ultra-high-capacitance, large-format products. Guangdong Fenghua also highlighted its shift towards higher-end products. The company said it had made progress in developing and scaling up production of several such products, “centring around high-growth segments like AI computing and automotive electronics”, according to its interim report. This marks a departure from the company’s previous practice of limiting price adjustments to distributors and signals that the MLCC industry has officially entered an upcycle TrendForce MLCCs have become increasingly sought-after amid the rapid buildout of power-hungry data centres to support AI’s expanding computing needs. Yet the high-end MLCCs used in AI servers and data centres remain dominated by Japan’s Murata Manufacturing, the world’s largest producer, and South Korea’s Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEM), both of which have been inundated with orders and are operating at or close to 95 per cent of capacity. SEM has taken the lead among major global MLCC makers by raising fourth-quarter prices for standard MLCCs used in consumer electronics by an average of 25 to 30 per cent, according to a TrendForce report published on Thursday. The move was intended to curb demand for consumer-grade MLCCs and free up capacity for higher-end products, the report said. Prices for AI-server-grade MLCCs, meanwhile, were expected to rise by an average of 10 to 20 per cent. “This marks a departure from the company’s previous practice of limiting price adjustments to distributors and signals that the MLCC industry has officially entered an upcycle,” TrendForce wrote. In July, SEM said it would focus on supplying cutting-edge MLCCs for AI applications after reporting second-quarter revenue of 3.5 trillion won (US$2.5 billion), up 24 per cent year on year, and net income of 315.7 billion won, up 143 per cent. Murata raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 13 per cent to a record high of 430 billion yen (US$2.7 billion) for the financial year ending March 2027, buoyed by AI server demand. It reported a 21 per cent increase in revenue to 502.3 billion yen, and a 64 per cent jump in net profit to 81.4 billion yen in the June quarter.