By Ben Blanchard and Faith Hung
TAIPEI (Reuters) – TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, announced robust growth in second-quarter revenue on Wednesday, surpassing market expectations. The surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications has been a key driver of this growth.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, a supplier to tech giants like Apple and Nvidia, has been able to weather the slowdown in pandemic-related demand thanks to the increasing interest in AI. This has propelled TSMC’s share price to new heights.
Revenue for the April-June period totaled T$673.51 billion ($20.67 billion), exceeding the LSEG SmartEstimate of T$654.27 billion based on calculations from 21 analysts. This marks a 32% year-on-year growth from the same period last year when revenue was $15.68 billion.
While TSMC reports monthly revenue in Taiwan dollars, it provides quarterly revenue figures and earnings outlook in U.S. dollars, making direct comparisons challenging. In its latest earnings call in April, the company forecasted second-quarter revenue between $19.6 billion and $20.4 billion.
June revenue alone saw a 33% year-on-year increase to T$207.87 billion, as reported by TSMC.
With a market capitalization of $830 billion, TSMC, Asia’s most valuable publicly listed company, did not offer detailed forward guidance in its revenue statement. The company is set to announce second-quarter earnings on July 18, which will include updates on its quarterly performance and future plans.
Analysts anticipate a 30% year-on-year growth in second-quarter net profit for TSMC.
On Wednesday, TSMC’s shares in Taipei closed up 0.5% ahead of the revenue data release, mirroring the broader market trend. The stock has surged 76% this year, outperforming the market’s 34% gain.
TSMC’s ADRs reached a record high of $192.79 on Monday, briefly pushing the company’s market value above $1 trillion.
($1 = 32.5790 Taiwan dollars)