Written by Ben Blanchard and Faith Hung
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a major maker of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications, is expected to report a 5% rise in first-quarter profit on Thursday thanks to solid demand. There is.
The world's largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has boosted TSMC's stock price to record highs as it benefits from a surge in demand for AI that helped weather the pandemic-induced ebb in electronics demand.
TSMC is expected to report net profit of NT$217.2 billion ($6.71 billion) for the quarter ending March 31, according to LSEG SmartEstimate from 22 analysts. SmartEstimates places more emphasis on consistently accurate analyst forecasts.
By comparison, net profit in the first quarter of last year was NT$206.9 billion.
TSMC reported last week that first-quarter sales rose 16.5%, beating market expectations and at the high end of the company's own guidance.
Eric Yao, vice president of Taiwan's Eastspring Investments, which manages about NT$90 billion of client assets in Taiwanese stocks, said the $6.6 billion U.S. subsidy for TSMC's new Arizona factory was a major benefit to TSMC. The outlook bodes well for the company to maintain its lead in advanced process technology.
“TSMC will continue to lead in this space, and Intel and Samsung won't have much of a chance to catch up,” he said, referring to two rivals that want to challenge the company's dominance.
Intel disclosed this month that operating losses in its foundry business were deepening, a blow to the chipmaker as it seeks to regain the technology lead it has lost in recent years to TSMC, but last week TSMC announced that it will build a third fab in the state.
Analysts at Fubon Securities said they expect TSMC to upwardly revise its outlook for future AI demand.
“TSMC has previously suggested that AI could account for a tenth of sales by 2026, but based on our calculations, the goal could be achieved sooner than 2025. I think there is a possibility that
The AI ​​boom has helped boost the stock prices of Asia's most valuable companies, with TSMC's Taipei-listed shares up 36% so far this year to a historic high, compared to a 14% rise for the broader market. did.
TSMC is scheduled to hold an earnings conference on Thursday at 0600 GMT.
(1 dollar = 32.3890 Taiwan dollar)
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Faith Hung; Editing by Jamie Freed)