Tower Semiconductor, an Israeli chip foundry, saw its market capitalization surge to approximately $37.7 to $38 billion in mid-June, briefly crowning it as Israel’s most valuable publicly traded company, leapfrogging Teva Pharmaceutical.
The AI infrastructure play that fueled the surge
Silicon photonics, Tower’s specialty, enables high-speed optical data transmission, letting massive AI models communicate across server racks. As AI infrastructure spending has ballooned globally, the companies making these connective components have found themselves in an enviable position.
The momentum started building publicly on May 13, when Tower announced its Q1 2026 results. Revenue came in at $414 million, representing 15% year-over-year growth.
Tower disclosed $1.3 billion in new silicon photonics contracts targeting revenue in 2027, all focused on AI applications. Shares surged over 17% intraday following the announcement.
