TAIWAN Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the dominant maker of chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, is expected to report another strong quarterly earnings on Thursday (Jul 18) but its Taipei shares slid 4 per cent, pressured by comments from Donald Trump on the industry.
While TSMC’s stock – and the broader Taiwan market – has reached record highs, it began slumping on Wednesday after Trump, the Republican US presidential candidate, said Taiwan “did take about 100 per cent of our chip business” and should pay the US for its defence.
TSMC’s American Depository Receipts slid 8 per cent on Wednesday, though it is expected to report a 30 per cent leap in second-quarter profit later on Thursday. The broader Taiwan market was down 2 per cent early on Thursday.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has benefited from a surge towards AI.
TSMC is set to report a net profit of NT$238.8 billion (S$9.8 billion) for the quarter that ended Jun 30, according to an LSEG SmartEstimate drawn from 21 analysts. SmartEstimates give greater weighting to forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.
That estimate compares with the 2023 second-quarter net profit of NT$181.8 billion.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
TSMC reported last week a jump in Taiwan-dollar denominated second-quarter revenue, comfortably beating market expectations. It will give third-quarter revenue guidance in US dollars.
On Wednesday, shares in ASML, the biggest supplier of computer chipmaking equipment for whom TSMC is a major customer, fell sharply on worries that pressure from the US government could lead to tighter restrictions on its exports to China.
The investor concerns overshadowed second-quarter earnings at Europe’s largest technology company that beat forecasts.
Peak season
TSMC, during its quarterly earnings call starting at 0600 GMT 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 of US dollars building new factories overseas, including US$65 billion on three plants in the US state of Arizona, though it has said most manufacturing will remain in Taiwan.
On its last earnings call in April, TSMC maintained its guidance for capital spending this year at US$28 billion to US$32 billion, compared with last year’s US$30.5 billion. It said 70 to 80 per cent of the total would go towards advanced technologies.
The second half of the year is traditionally the peak season for Taiwanese tech companies as they race to supply customers ahead of the year-end holiday season in major Western markets.
The AI boom has helped drive up the price of shares in Asia’s most valuable publicly listed company, with TSMC’s Taipei-listed stock leaping 68 per cent so far this year compared with a 30 per cent gain for the broader market.
TSMC, colloquially referred to in Taiwan as the “sacred mountain protecting the country” for its critical role in Taiwan’s export-dependent economy, faces little competition, though both Intel and Samsung are trying to challenge its dominance. REUTERS
