Taiwan stocks opened lower and weakened further on the first trading day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, with MediaTek dropping below NT$5,000. Foreign institutional investors, however, turned more optimistic on the company's long-term prospects — bad news for short-term holders, but an opportunity for those building long-term positions.

• The Taiex briefly lost the 48,000 level, falling more than 200 points intraday, with MediaTek under the heaviest selling pressure and serving as the main drag on the index.
• Foreign institutions expect MediaTek to win orders for Google's next-generation TPU, with TSMC's expanded advanced packaging capacity easing shipment bottlenecks; one house raised its target price in a single step to NT$6,188.
• The market is abuzz with reports that SpaceX and a leading AI laboratory both want to work with MediaTek on ASICs, with deals possibly finalised as early as the fourth quarter — a potential next catalyst for the share price.
• Asian markets weakened in tandem and South Korean stocks tumbled, while the Financial Supervisory Commission plans to introduce a cross-checking mechanism for credit extended by brokerages and banks at the end of October, raising market concerns that deleveraging could trigger a sharp sell-off.
• Panel makers AUO and Innolux surged on heavy volume, while memory distributor Chu Hung had its cash capital increase revoked by the Financial Supervisory Commission and fell limit-down for three straight sessions.

Outlook: Short-term volatility is hard to avoid given the drag from Asian markets and deleveraging concerns, but visibility on AI chip orders remains high, and funds may continue to rotate into MediaTek along with the panel and memory groups.