Overseas orders surge + operators' centralized procurement price increases, fiber optic cable industry enters a high prosperity cycle (Stock recommendations)

AI compute power demand surges, driving a global rush for fiber optic cables. China’s fiber optic exports see both quantity and price rising. Combined with operators’ procurement campaign prices being raised significantly and the industry’s supply-demand gap continuing to widen, the fiber optics and cable segment is entering a period of high demand and strong market conditions.

**Global cable orders surge from China **Operators’ procurement prices are raised notably

According to a recent report from CCTV Finance and Economics, since the start of the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, with artificial intelligence development gathering momentum, the investment in global compute infrastructure is rapidly increasing. In Suzhou, Jiangsu, cable production companies’ exports have seen rapid growth. Relevant companies are ramping up operations at full capacity, seizing the global market.

A company staff member said that since the end of last year, the volume of the company’s overseas orders has increased significantly. There are many orders from South America, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as from Southeast Asia, and the delivery cycle requirements are all no more than half a month. In the first two months, this company’s fiber optic exports increased year over year by 51%. “Our production schedule is already fully booked. During this period, we are stepping up the expansion of our plants, adding production lines, and increasing capacity to meet market demand.”

According to a briefing from the Nanjing Customs, in the first two months of this year, in the Wujiang area, exports including cables and wires totaled 860 million yuan, up 69.3% year over year. With this wave of global artificial intelligence development and the breakout in compute power demand, exports of relevant products in Jiangsu have all seen strong growth.

In addition, in the recent period, operators’ cable procurement campaign prices have been raised significantly. Heilongjiang Telecom released a tender announcement for its 2026 outdoor fiber optic cable emergency procurement project. In it, the pre-tax unit price of the mainstream specification G.652D-24-core outdoor fiber optic cable reached 3,737.43 yuan per sheath kilometer, corresponding to a single-core kilometer price of about 155.7 yuan.

Another media report said that, in operators’ procurement campaigns, there have been consecutive instances of bids being canceled due to lack of qualified bidders and price surcharges. For some products, the bidding price caps even surged by 100% within two months, further confirming that the industry is currently in a tight supply situation.

**Supply can’t meet demand! **Institutions expect fiber optic prices may continue to rise

Fiber optic, short for optical waveguide fiber, is a type of glass or plastic fiber that conducts light. Recently, as demand in the fiber optics and cable industry has grown step by step, product prices have also risen accordingly. According to a forecast by the research institution Fortune Business Insights, the global fiber optics market size will reach 8.96 billion USD in 2025 and will grow rapidly to 21.16 billion USD by 2034.

In the view of Guotai Junan Securities, changes in fiber optic and cable prices are a “supply-demand gap type” price increase after demand structures shift. With the ramp-up of drone demand and the rise in AIDC demand, there is a shortage of high-spec fiber optic capacity. Against the backdrop of supply not meeting demand, customers are not sensitive to price, giving rise to this steep price increase curve.

In February of this year, China exported 3,779.9 tons of fiber optics with a value of 790 million yuan, up 63.6% and 126.8% year over year, respectively. If converted into kilometer equivalents, in February China exported about 25.2 million fiber-core kilometers of fiber optics, accounting for roughly 65% of China’s monthly effective fiber optic production capacity. If fiber optics included in cable exports are added, the proportion of fiber optic exports would be even higher.

“Around the world is rushing to purchase fiber optics produced in China, and Chinese fiber optics suppliers are in a ‘not worried about selling’ situation.” A latest research report from China Securities Jianyin said that, overall, overseas telecom networks, AI, drones, and others jointly drive the sharp increase in fiber optics demand, pushing prices to continue rising. The industry is in a high-demand cycle, and the fiber optics segment is continuously recommended.

Kaiyuan Securities also believes that “‘AIDC construction, DCI interconnection, and drone demand’ create a triple resonance in fiber optic demand. From the supply side, fiber optic preforms have characteristics such as long expansion cycles and difficulties in increasing capacity, which may cause the supply-demand tightness to persist, and fiber optic prices may continue to rise.”

Five concept stocks have already doubled within the year

According to a roundup of hotspot themes by Oriental Fortune, in the current A-share market there are 34 stocks related to the fiber optics concept. Their combined total market value is about 1.35 trillion yuan. Among them, Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable, and Tianfu Communication rank at the top by scale, with total market values of approximately 256.2 billion yuan and 232.5 billion yuan, respectively. FiberHome (亨通光电) and Zhongtian Technology also have market values exceeding 100 billion yuan.

Since the beginning of this year, the fiber optics concept has performed well, with more than 70% of the stocks recording share price increases. Among them, Hangdian Co., Ltd.’s share price jumped by 2.5 times, the highest in the list. Fal Sheng’s gain within the year also reached as high as 204%. Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable, FiberHome (亨通光电), and Tongding Internet all achieved share price doubling. Zhongtian Technology, Tengjing Technology, Fiberhome Technologies, and Yuanjie Technology saw gains between 50% and 70%.

From the perspective of funds, data from Oriental Fortune Choice shows that over the past month, 11 fiber optics concept stocks received net financing purchases. FiberHome (亨通光电) saw a major increase in leveraged funds, adding 1.018 billion yuan. Fiberhome Technologies and Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable respectively received financing clients’ purchases of 545 million yuan and 251 million yuan. Tongding Internet, Hangdian Co., Ltd., Yuanjie Technology, and Taisien Optoelectronics’ net purchases by financing were all between 88 million yuan and 165 million yuan.

Several companies are expected to see significant earnings growth this year

In terms of growth potential, based on consensus forecasts from three or more institutions, 11 fiber optics concept stocks are expected to see significantly increased earnings this year. Among them, Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable’s net profit this year may increase by nearly 5 times year over year. For Tongying Tong, Jingshui Co., and Taisien Optoelectronics, the predicted net profit growth rates are 3.8 times, 2 times, and 1.2 times, respectively. Yuanjie Technology and Feilihua are also expected to achieve net profit growth of more than 90%.

Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable is a global leading provider of fiber optic preforms, optical fibers, cables, and integrated solutions. A research report by Guotai Junan Securities said that the company has achieved a breakthrough in R&D related to hollow-core fiber, and will benefit from the surge in fiber optic demand driven by competitive AI compute power.

Tengjing Technology is a precision optics manufacturer whose core products are precision optical module components, fiber optic devices, and optical testing instruments. Guotou Securities said that OCS, as an industry trend, has a clear direction as a key optical interconnection architecture for AI clusters. The company is positioned in the key optical components segment of OCS, and demand for related products is expected to be gradually released as downstream construction progresses.

（Source: Oriental Fortune Research Center）