STMicroelectronics enters high-volume production of its industry-leading silicon photonics platform to support AI infrastructure demand

Rhea-AI Summary

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) announced it has entered high-volume production of its PIC100 silicon photonics platform on 300 mm lines to supply hyperscalers with 800G and 1.6T transceivers. ST plans to more than quadruple production by 2027 with further expansion in 2028, backed by customer capacity reservations. The company also previewed a PIC100 TSV roadmap to increase optical density and system thermal efficiency and will present demos and papers at OFC 2026.

Positive

• High-volume production of PIC100 on 300 mm lines for hyperscalers
• Planned capacity to >4x by 2027, with further 2028 expansion
• 800G and 1.6T transceivers targeted at AI/data-center optical interconnects
• Low waveguide losses: silicon 0.4 dB/cm, silicon nitride 0.5 dB/cm
• Roadmap includes PIC100 TSV for higher optical density and thermal efficiency

Negative

• None.

News Market Reaction – STM

+6.92%

11 alerts

+6.92% News Effect

+$1.94B Valuation Impact

$29.97B Market Cap

1.2x Rel. Volume

On the day this news was published, STM gained 6.92%, reflecting a notable positive market reaction. Our momentum scanner triggered 11 alerts that day, indicating notable trading interest and price volatility. This price movement added approximately $1.94B to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $29.97B at that time.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Data center optics market 2025: $15.5 billion Market CAGR: 17% CAGR Market size 2030: $34 billion+ +5 more

8 metrics

Data center optics market 2025 $15.5 billion Data center pluggable optics market size in 2025

Market CAGR 17% CAGR Expected growth of data center pluggable optics 2025–2030

Market size 2030 $34 billion+ Projected data center pluggable optics revenue by 2030

CPO revenue 2030 $9 billion+ Projected co-packaged optics (CPO) revenue contribution by 2030

SiPh share 2025 43% Share of transceivers with silicon photonics modulators in 2025

SiPh share 2030 76% Projected share of transceivers with silicon photonics modulators by 2030

Waveguide loss (Si) 0.4 dB/cm Best-in-class silicon waveguide loss on PIC100 platform

Waveguide loss (SiN) 0.5 dB/cm Best-in-class silicon nitride waveguide loss on PIC100 platform

Market Reality Check

Price: $33.53 Vol: Volume 7,451,767 vs 20-da...

normal vol

$33.53 Last Close

Volume Volume 7,451,767 vs 20-day average 8,569,658 (relative volume 0.87x) suggests no outsized trading spike. normal

Technical Price 31.36 trades above 200-day MA 27.82, about 10.6% below the 52-week high of 35.07.

Peers on Argus

STM fell 5.85% while key semiconductor peers like ASX (-1.52%), ON (-2.77%), GFS...

STM fell 5.85% while key semiconductor peers like ASX (-1.52%), ON (-2.77%), GFS (-1.01%), MCHP (-1.54%), and UMC (-0.93%) also declined but less, pointing to a stock-specific acceleration of a broader sector softness.

Previous AI Reports

5 past events · Latest: Feb 10 (Positive)

Same Type Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Feb 10	Automotive AI MCU launch	Positive	+2.9%	Introduced Stellar P3E MCU with embedded neural network accelerator for automotive edge AI.
Feb 09	Cloud AI AWS deal	Positive	+8.9%	Expanded multi-year engagement with AWS to supply semiconductors for AI data centers.
Nov 18	AI Model Zoo expansion	Positive	-1.8%	Doubled AI model families and grew STM32 AI Model Zoo for Physical AI on MCUs.
May 13	AI-enabled sensor launch	Positive	+2.8%	Launched LSM6DSV320X IMU combining activity tracking and high-impact sensing with embedded AI.
Feb 20	SiPho AI interconnect	Positive	+6.6%	Announced silicon photonics and BiCMOS technologies targeting 800Gb/s and 1.6Tb/s optical modules.

Pattern Detected

Recent AI-tagged announcements have mostly led to positive price reactions, with 4 of 5 prior AI events posting gains and one showing a mild negative divergence.

Recent Company History

This announcement extends STMicroelectronics’ AI and cloud-infrastructure strategy, moving its silicon photonics platform into high-volume production for hyperscalers. Previous AI-related news included automotive MCUs with embedded AI acceleration (Feb 10, 2026), a multi‑year cloud and AI data‑center engagement with AWS (Feb 9, 2026), expansion of the STM32 AI Model Zoo (Nov 18, 2025), and AI-enabled sensors (May 13, 2025). Earlier, on Feb 20, 2025, ST highlighted silicon photonics and BiCMOS technologies for 800Gb/s and 1.6Tb/s modules, which today’s PIC100 production effectively builds upon.

Historical Comparison

+3.9% avg move · Across 5 prior AI-tagged announcements, STM moved on average 3.88%. Today’s -5.85% reaction to high-...

AI

+3.9%

Average Historical Move AI

Across 5 prior AI-tagged announcements, STM moved on average 3.88%. Today’s -5.85% reaction to high-volume silicon photonics production marks a notable downside deviation.

AI-tagged history shows a progression from announcing SiPho-based optical interconnect technologies in Feb 2025 to today’s high-volume PIC100 silicon photonics production and roadmap toward PIC100 TSV for Near Packaged and co-packaged optics.

Market Pulse Summary

The stock moved +6.9% in the session following this news. A strong positive reaction aligns with the...

Analysis

The stock moved +6.9% in the session following this news. A strong positive reaction aligns with the company’s pattern of favorable responses to AI-related announcements, where prior AI news moved an average of 3.88%. The move into high-volume PIC100 silicon photonics production builds directly on earlier optical interconnect disclosures and targets a growing pluggable optics market expected to exceed $34 billion by 2030. Investors would still need to watch execution on capacity expansion and hyperscaler adoption.

Key Terms

silicon photonics, through-silicon via (tsv), co-packaged optics (cpo), optical interconnect, +1 more

5 terms

silicon photonics technical

"state-of-the-art silicon photonics-based PIC100 platform used by hyperscalers"

Silicon photonics is the technology that uses tiny structures etched into silicon chips to generate, control and detect light for moving data and sensing, essentially putting optical fiber functions onto a computer chip. For investors, it matters because it can dramatically increase data speed and energy efficiency in data centers, telecom networks and advanced sensors, potentially lowering costs and enabling new products much like replacing many metal wires with faster, low-power optical highways.

through-silicon via (tsv) technical

"PIC100 TSV, a new and unique platform that integrates through-silicon via (TSV) technology"

A through-silicon via (TSV) is a tiny vertical electrical connection drilled straight through a semiconductor chip to link stacked layers of circuitry, like an elevator shaft joining floors in a building. It lets manufacturers pack more functions into a smaller volume while improving speed and energy use, which can lower production costs and enable higher-performance products — factors that can affect a maker’s competitiveness, margins and future revenue.

co-packaged optics (cpo) technical

"co-packaged optics (CPO) will emerge as a rapidly growing segment"

Co-packaged optics (CPO) are a way of placing optical transmitters and receivers directly next to or on the same chip package as a high-speed switch or processor, rather than keeping them on separate circuit boards. By moving the light-based communications closer to the switching brain, CPO cuts power use, reduces delay and can greatly increase data capacity — changes that can lower operating costs, enable denser data centers, and shift competitive dynamics among hardware suppliers and cloud operators.

optical interconnect technical

"used by hyperscalers for optical interconnect for data centers and AI clusters"

Optical interconnect is a way of linking electronic components using pulses of light instead of traditional electrical wires, like swapping copper cables for fiber-optic highways inside and between devices. It matters to investors because light-based connections can carry much more data, use less power and generate less heat than electrical links, which can lower operating costs and enable faster, more scalable products for data centers, telecom and high-performance computing markets.

waveguide technical

"best-in-class silicon and silicon nitride waveguide losses"

A waveguide is a physical channel—like a hollow tube or a thin strip of material—that directs electromagnetic energy such as microwaves, radio waves or light from one point to another with minimal loss. For investors, waveguides matter because their design and quality directly affect the speed, efficiency, size and cost of products in telecom, radar, sensors and medical imaging; improvements can make devices faster, smaller or cheaper, boosting a supplier’s competitiveness.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

STMicroelectronics enters high-volume production of its industry-leading silicon photonics platform to support AI infrastructure demand

• PIC100 technology in 300 mm high-volume production for leading hyperscalers, with plans to quadruple capacity by 2027 and further expand in 2028
• ST unveils PIC100 through-silicon via (TSV) upcoming technology roadmap

Geneva, Switzerland — March 9^th, 2026 — STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is now entering high-volume production for its state-of-the-art silicon photonics-based PIC100 platform used by hyperscalers for optical interconnect for data centers and AI clusters. The 800G and 1.6T PIC100 transceivers enable higher bandwidth, lower latency, and greater energy efficiency as AI workloads surge.

“Following the announcement of its new silicon photonics technology in February 2025, ST is now entering high-volume production for leading hyperscalers. The combination of our technology platform and the superior scale of our 300 mm manufacturing lines gives us a unique competitive advantage to support the AI infrastructure super-cycle,” said Fabio Gualandris, President, Quality, Manufacturing & Technology, STMicroelectronics. “Looking ahead, we are planning and executing on capacity expansions to enable more than quadrupling of production by 2027. This fast expansion is fully underpinned by customers’ long-term capacity reservation commitments.”

“The data center pluggable optics market continues to expand strongly, reaching $15.5 billion in 2025. We expect the market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% from 2025 through 2030, surpassing $34 billion by the end of the forecast period. In addition, co-packaged optics (CPO) will emerge as a rapidly growing segment, contributing more than $9 billion in revenue by 2030. Over the same period, the share of transceivers incorporating silicon photonics modulators is projected to increase from 43% in 2025 to 76% by 2030,” said Dr. Vladimir Kozlov, CEO and Chief Analyst at LightCounting. “ST’s leading silicon photonics platform coupled with its aggressive capacity expansion plan illustrates its capabilities to provide hyperscalers with secure, long-term supply, predictable quality, and manufacturing resilience.”

Upcoming PIC100 TSV Platform Technology 

AI infrastructure is experiencing unprecedented scaling, with cloud-optical interconnect performance becoming a critical bottleneck. Drawing on years of silicon photonics innovation, ST’s PIC100 platform provides state-of-the-art optical performance, including best-in-class silicon and silicon nitride waveguide losses (respectively as low as 0.4 and 0.5 dB/cm), advanced modulator and photodiode performance, as well as an innovative edge coupling technology.

In parallel with high-volume PIC100 production, ST is planning to introduce the next step in its silicon photonics technology roadmap: the PIC100 TSV, a new and unique platform that integrates through-silicon via (TSV) technology to further increase optical connectivity density, module integration, and system-level thermal efficiency. The PIC100 TSV platform is designed to support future generations of Near Packaged Optics (NPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO), aligning with hyperscalers’ long-term migration paths toward deeper optical–electronic integration for scale up.

ST at OFC 2026

ST will discuss business and technology roadmap updates at the upcoming Optical Fiber Communication Conference® (March 15-19^th), Los Angeles, USA:

• paper titled “An Innovative 300mm Back Side Integrated Silicon Photonics Platform for 200Gbits/lane Applications”
• First PIC100-based demo of a 1.6T-DR8 silicon photonics transceiver, engine by Sicoya and STMicroelectronics. See it on the Sicoya booth #507
• Participation to the CEA-Leti event: “Optical Interconnects: Driving Innovation in AI Factory and Beyond” (March 18, 6-8pm PT)
  
  

About STMicroelectronics

At ST, we are 48,000 creators and makers of semiconductor technologies mastering the semiconductor supply chain with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. An integrated device manufacturer, we work with more than 200,000 customers and thousands of partners to design and build products, solutions, and ecosystems that address their challenges and opportunities, and the need to support a more sustainable world. Our technologies enable smarter mobility, more efficient power and energy management, and the wide-scale deployment of cloud-connected autonomous things. We are on track to be carbon neutral in all direct and indirect emissions (scopes 1 and 2), product transportation, business travel, and employee commuting emissions (our scope 3 focus), and to achieve our 100% renewable electricity sourcing goal by the end of 2027.

Further information can be found at www.st.com

For more information, please contact:

  

INVESTOR RELATIONS

Jérôme Ramel
EVP Corporate Development & Integrated External Communication
Tel: +41.22.929.59.20
jerome.ramel@st.com    

MEDIA RELATIONS

Alexis Breton
Group VP Corporate External Communications
Tel: +33.6.59.16.79.08
alexis.breton@st.com

  

Forward-looking Information

Some of the statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended) that are based on management’s current views and assumptions, and are conditioned upon and also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated by such statements due to, among other factors:

• changes in global trade policies, including the continuation, adoption and expansion of tariffs and trade barriers and sanctions, that are affecting and could further affect the macro-economic environment and are adversely impacting and could further adversely impact the demand for our products;
• uncertain macro-economic and industry trends (such as inflation and fluctuations in supply chains), which are impacting and may further impact production capacity and end-market demand for our products;
• customer demand that differs from projections which may require us to undertake transformation measures that may not be successful in realizing the expected benefits in full or at all;
• the ability to design, manufacture and sell innovative products in a rapidly changing technological environment;
• changes in economic, social, public health, labor, political, or infrastructure conditions in the locations where we, our customers, or our suppliers operate, including as a result of macro-economic or regional events, geopolitical and military conflicts, social unrest, labor actions, or terrorist activities;
• unanticipated events or circumstances, which may impact our ability to execute our plans and/or meet the objectives of our R&D and manufacturing programs, which benefit from public funding;
• financial difficulties with any of our major distributors or significant curtailment of purchases by key customers;
• the loading, product mix, and manufacturing performance of our production facilities and/or our required volume to fulfill capacity reserved with suppliers or third-party manufacturing providers;
• availability and costs of equipment, raw materials, utilities, third-party manufacturing services and technology, or other supplies required by our operations (including increasing costs resulting from inflation);
• the functionalities and performance of our IT systems, which are subject to cybersecurity threats and which support our critical operational activities including manufacturing, finance and sales, and any breaches of our IT systems or those of our customers, suppliers, partners and providers of third-party licensed technology;
• theft, loss, or misuse of personal data about our employees, customers, or other third parties, and breaches of data privacy legislation;
• the impact of IP claims by our competitors or other third parties, and our ability to obtain required licenses on reasonable terms and conditions;
• changes in our overall tax position as a result of changes in tax rules, new or revised legislation, the outcome of tax audits or changes in international tax treaties which may impact our results of operations as well as our ability to accurately estimate tax credits, benefits, deductions and provisions and to realize deferred tax assets;
• variations in the foreign exchange markets and, more particularly, the U.S. dollar exchange rate as compared to the Euro and the other major currencies we use for our operations;
• the outcome of ongoing litigation as well as the impact of any new litigation to which we may become a defendant;
• product liability or warranty claims, claims based on epidemic or delivery failure, or other claims relating to our products, or recalls by our customers for products containing our parts;
• natural events such as severe weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions or other acts of nature, the effects of climate change, health risks and epidemics or pandemics in locations where we, our customers or our suppliers operate;
• increased regulation and initiatives in our industry, including those concerning climate change and sustainability matters and our goal to become carbon neutral in all direct and indirect emissions (scopes 1 and 2), product transportation, business travel, and employee commuting emissions (our scope 3 focus), and to achieve our 100% renewable electricity sourcing goal by the end of 2027;
• epidemics or pandemics, which may negatively impact the global economy in a significant manner for an extended period of time, and could also materially adversely affect our business and operating results;
• industry changes resulting from vertical and horizontal consolidation among our suppliers, competitors, and customers;
• the ability to successfully ramp up new programs that could be impacted by factors beyond our control, including the availability of critical third-party components and performance of subcontractors in line with our expectations; and
• individual customer use of certain products, which may differ from the anticipated uses of such products and result in differences in performance, including energy consumption, may lead to a failure to achieve our disclosed emission-reduction goals, adverse legal action or additional research costs.

Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results and performance of our business to differ materially and adversely from the forward-looking statements. Certain forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “believes”, “expects”, “may”, “are expected to”, “should”, “would be”, “seeks” or “anticipates” or similar expressions or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions.

Some of these risk factors are set forth and are discussed in more detail in “Item 3. Key Information — Risk Factors” included in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2025 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 26, 2026. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as anticipated, believed or expected. We do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update any industry information or forward-looking statements set forth in this release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Unfavorable changes in the above or other factors listed under “Item 3. Key Information — Risk Factors” from time to time in our SEC filings, could have a material adverse effect on our business and/or financial condition.

Attachments

• Cloud AI server room
• T4761S -- Mar 9 2026 -- PIC100 volume production_FINAL FOR PUBLICATION_FLS UPDATED

FAQ

What production milestone did STMicroelectronics (STM) announce on March 9, 2026?

ST entered high-volume production of its PIC100 silicon photonics platform on 300 mm lines. According to the company, the platform supports 800G and 1.6T transceivers for hyperscalers and is being scaled rapidly for AI infrastructure demand.

How much will STMicroelectronics (STM) expand PIC100 production by 2027?

ST plans to more than quadruple production by 2027. According to the company, this expansion is supported by customers' long-term capacity reservation commitments and will continue with further additions planned for 2028.

What performance metrics does the PIC100 platform claim for optical losses?

PIC100 reports best-in-class waveguide losses of 0.4 dB/cm (silicon) and 0.5 dB/cm (silicon nitride). According to the company, these metrics improve bandwidth, energy efficiency, and link performance for datacenter interconnects.

What is the PIC100 TSV roadmap and why does it matter for AI infrastructure?

The PIC100 TSV integrates through-silicon vias to increase optical connectivity density and thermal efficiency. According to the company, TSV enables deeper optical–electronic integration for Near Packaged Optics and co-packaged optics migration paths.

How does ST position PIC100 relative to market demand for datacenter optics?

ST positions PIC100 to meet surging AI and datacenter demand for high-bandwidth optics. According to the company, the platform plus 300 mm scale offers secure, long-term supply and manufacturing resilience for hyperscaler customers.