Taiwan's IC design stocks are on a tear, and Global Unichip (創意) just hit limit-up at an all-time high on surging demand for custom AI chips — good news for Taiwan's chip supply chain and its investors.

• Global Unichip jumped 10% to a record high, a day after MediaTek also hit limit-up, as money rotates from GPU makers toward custom AI chip (ASIC) designers.
• A foreign broker started coverage with a Buy rating and a target price 57% above the current level, predicting earnings could grow eightfold over the next three years.
• The driver is big North American cloud companies moving ahead with next-generation AI ASIC projects, with mass production expected around year-end and TSMC capacity locked in for next year.
• Monthly revenue has hit record highs three months in a row as AI computing shifts from training models to running them, where custom chips win on energy efficiency.
• The wider Taiwan market is strong too, with the index topping 48,000, TSMC and MediaTek at record levels, and foreign investors buying heavily.

Outlook: Custom AI chip demand should keep lifting Global Unichip and its peers into next year, though the sharp run-up leaves less room for error if cloud spending slows.