TTM Technologies emerged as the primary builder of advanced circuit boards powering AI server deployments at Google, Meta, and Amazon. Revenue run rate reached $3 billion, while defense backlog locked in nearly $1.5 billion of future demand. Data center computing has grown into more than one-fifth of total revenue. Two structural megatrends converged at the same time, and one supplier sat at the intersection of both. While attention stayed focused on chips and software, the infrastructure layer remained largely overlooked. Beneath the headlines, the largest U.S. printed circuit board manufacturer was quietly extending its structural advantage as higher-layer boards became mission-critical.
Why is TTMI benefiting from two megatrends at once?
Defense and AI demand converged on the same physical layer. Both require advanced printed circuit boards and reward domestic manufacturing, creating multi-year visibility through backlogs and qualification cycles. TTMI's aerospace and defense customers rely on these boards for next-generation weapons systems. Hyperscaler customers rely on the same class of boards for dense AI server clusters. Together, defense and AI now account for 80% of total revenue. When two historically uncorrelated megatrends flow through the same supplier, growth compounds beyond what single-trend companies can match.
What makes TTMI different from other PCB suppliers?
Every AI chip requires a high-performance chassis. TTMI builds the electrical nervous system that keeps forty-thousand-dollar chips operating at full compute load. While a standard consumer PCB resembles a dirt road with four to eight layers, an AI backplane becomes a thirty-layer superhighway of precisely aligned circuitry. As the largest US-based PCB maker, TTMI is not just a supplier. It is a national security asset. The government's push for trusted microelectronics means defense contracts require domestic manufacturing. TTMI's new Wisconsin facility is a strategic hedge against supply chain disruptions.
Why isn't TTMI a one-move story?
Because infrastructure adoption unfolds in phases. Early recognition drives the first leg as the market identifies the enabling technology. The next phase is defined by expansion, where capacity additions, customer ramp-ups, and deeper integration across platforms begin to compound results. New system architectures and higher performance requirements extend that cycle further. Along the way, pullbacks are common and expected. They reflect normal digestion within long industrial buildouts, not a breakdown in the underlying demand. TTMI sits inside a multi-year infrastructure cycle where value accrues over time, not in a single price move.
How do you find the next hidden infrastructure winner?
Follow the physical layer. Every major technology shift, from AI to defense modernization, depends on hardware. Brands earn headlines, but value concentrates upstream. When the largest buyers in a sector rely on the same supplier, that supplier captures returns the market often overlooks.
The next infrastructure winner will not be the loudest name in AI. It will be the supplier embedded in the build, locked in by qualification cycles, manufacturing complexity, and repeat demand. TTMI shows the decisive layer in AI infrastructure is not the chip itself, but the components that enable it to perform at scale. That is where multi-year winners are formed, long before the market realizes the cycle is still underway.