TAIPEI — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the main producer of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, is expected to report a 40-percent leap in third-quarter profit on Thursday, thanks to soaring demand.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has benefited from the surge toward AI.
TSMC is set to report a net profit of NT$298.2 billion ($9.27 billion) for the quarter that ended September 30, according to a LSEG SmartEstimate drawn from 22 analysts.
SmartEstimates give greater weighting to forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.
That estimate compares to the 2023 third-quarter net profit of NT$211 billion.
TSMC last week reported a jump in third-quarter revenue as reported in Taiwan dollars, comfortably beating market expectations. The company gives its revenue outlook in US dollars at its earnings conference.
“Most of TSMC’s major clients, including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm and Mediatek are launching new products which heavily rely on TSMC’s advanced process technologies,” said Li Fang-kuo, chairman of President Capital Management.
“TSMC’s Q3 earnings will exceed expectations by a lot,” Li added.
TSMC, at its quarterly earnings call on Thursday, will update its outlook for the current quarter as well as for the full year, including its capital expenditure as it races to expand production.
TSMC is spending billions building new factories overseas, including $65 billion on three plants in the US state of Arizona, though it says most manufacturing will remain in Taiwan.
On its last earnings call in July, TSMC raised its full-year revenue forecast and adjusted its capital expenditure plans for this year to between $30 billion and $32 billion, compared with a previous forecast of $28 billion to $32 billion.
The AI boom has helped drive up the price of shares in Asia’s most valuable company, with TSMC’s Taipei-listed stock soaring 77 percent so far this year, compared with a 28-percent gain for the broader market.
People visit TSMC Museum of Innovation in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on May 29, 2024. REUTERS PHOTO
Be the first to comment