TSMC Boosts Revenue Expectations as US Policy Concerns Weigh on Chipmakers
Industry-leading chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM,TPE:2330) released its Q2 results, reporting a 36.3 percent net income jump year-on-year.
The company, whose clientele includes market behemoths Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), continues to benefit from surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
It reported consolidated revenue of 673.51 billion New Taiwan dollars (approximately US$20.82 billion), reflecting a 40.1 percent year-on-year increase and a rise of 13.6 percent from the previous quarter.
TSMC’s net income rose by 9.9 percent from the first quarter, hitting 247.85 billion New Taiwan dollars.
“Our business in the second quarter was supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 3nm and 5nm technologies, partially offset by continued smartphone seasonality,” said Senior Vice President and CFO Wendell Huang.
Huang added that moving into the third quarter, the company aims to leverage growing demand for AI-related services, including smartphones, high-performance computing and generative AI. To meet this demand, TSMC has launched new factories overseas, including three planned in the US and one in Japan that opened this year.
During the second quarter, the company briefly broke the US$1 trillion market capitalization barrier, putting it ahead of Elon Musk’s Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) as the seventh most valuable technology firm.
Looking forward to Q3, TSMC expects revenue of US$22.4 billion to US$23.2 billion.
Trump comments on Taiwan hurt chipmakers
Shares of TSMC took a hit on Wednesday (July 17) after former US President Donald Trump suggested that Taiwan ‘should pay (the US) for defense’ since it ‘does not give (the US) anything.’
After closing on Tuesday (July 16) at US$186.14, TSMC fell as low as US$171.16 on Wednesday. It sank even further on Thursday (July 18), reaching US$166.14 before finishing the day at US$171.81.
Other major semiconductor companies also saw significant share price drops.
Declines were further exacerbated by reports that the Biden administration is mulling strict curbs on firms allowing China access to advanced chip technology. Taiwan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips, primarily through TSMC, making it a critical player in the global semiconductor supply chain.
Addressing concerns, TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei told reporters on Thursday, ‘So far we did not change any of our original plans of expansion of our overseas fabs. We continue to expand in Arizona, in Kumamoto, and maybe in future in Europe. No change in our strategy. We continue in our current practice.’
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.