Taiwan’s TSMC second-quarter net profit jumps on Gen AI demand

AFP | Taipei

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

Taiwan chip giant TSMC said yesterday net profit jumped by more than a third in the second quarter of 2024, buoyed by global demand for generative artificial intelligence products.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company -- whose clients include Apple and Nvidia -- controls more than half the world’s output of silicon wafers, used in everything from smartphones and cars to missiles. Following the runaway success of ChatGPT, the company is now at the forefront of a generative AI revolution, churning out the world’s most advanced microchips needed to power products made by Silicon Valley.

The firm said it made NT$247.8 billion (US$7.6 billion) in April-June, up 36 percent from NT$181.8 billion in the same period last year. Second-quarter revenues rose 32 percent on-year to US$20.82 billion, it added in a statement.

“Our business in the second quarter was supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 3-nanometre and 5-nanometre technologies, partially offset by continued smartphone seasonality,” said Wendell Huang, TSMC’s CFO and senior vice president in an earnings conference.

“Moving into third quarter 2024, we expect our business to be supported by strong smartphone and AI-related demand for our leading-edge process technologies.” The company expects its third-quarter revenue to jump to $23.2 billion, above expectations, according to Bloomberg News.

It also lifted its full-year capital expenditure outlook to US$30-US$32 billion from a previous estimate of US$28- US$32 billion. This month the company listed in Taiwan and New York briefly broke the US$1 trillion market capitalisation barrier, putting it ahead of Tesla as the seventh most valuable technology firm.