Ajinomoto Turns Chip Stock: Insulating Film Booms, but Is the High PER Justified?

Toyo Keizai reports food giant Ajinomoto is now viewed as a chip-related stock as demand surges for its semiconductor-packaging insulating film (ABF), pushing its PER well above food-sector peers and sparking debate over overvaluation. It's a vivid valuation case: a seasonings maker whose film, spun off years ago from amino-acid technology, is now essential to high-end chip packaging, riding the AI and chip boom, so the market prices it like a chip growth stock, lifting its PER sharply. The crux: whether that high multiple is justified depends on how durable the film's growth is and how much it contributes to total profit. Bulls see an undervalued hidden champion; skeptics fear over-extrapolated hype. For Taiwan readers it's a useful reminder, when a traditional firm's valuation jumps on a hot theme, return to fundamentals and ask whether the theme's profit really supports the price.