TSMC fourth-quarter results top expectations, net profit surges 57% on robust AI chip demand

A stamp of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is viewed sooner or later of the TSMC international RnD Center opening ceremony in Hsinchu on July 28, 2023. (Portray by Amber Wang / AFP)

Amber Wang | Afp | Getty Photos

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company‘s fourth-quarter earnings and earnings beat expectations, as request for developed chips identical old in man made intelligence applications persevered to surge.

Here are TSMC’s fourth-quarter outcomes versus LSEG consensus estimates:

  • Safe earnings: 868.46 billion Fresh Taiwan dollars ($26.36 billion), vs. NT$850.08 billion anticipated
  • Safe earnings: NT$374.68 billion, vs. NT$366.61 billion anticipated

TSMC earnings rose 57% from a one year earlier to a file high, while earnings jumped 38.8%. The company had forecast fourth-quarter earnings between $26.1 billion and $26.9 billion.

Because the world’s preferrred contract chip manufacturer TSMC produces developed processors for purchasers similar to Nvidia and Apple and has benefited from the megatrend in settle on of AI.

TSMC’s high-efficiency computing division, which encompasses man made intelligence and 5G applications, drove gross sales in the fourth quarter, contributing Fifty three% of earnings. That HPC earnings used to be up 19% from the earlier quarter.

“The surging demand for AI chips has exceeded expectations in Q4,” Brady Wang, affiliate director at Counterpoint Analysis urged CNBC, adding that earnings used to be additionally bolstered by request for the developed chips in Apple’s most contemporary iPhone 16 mannequin.

The Taiwan-based totally firm first released its December earnings final week, bringing its annual full to NT$ 2.9 trillion — a file-breaking one year in gross sales on yarn of the firm went public in 1994.

“We observed robust AI related demand from our customers throughout 2024,” TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei mentioned in an earnings call on Thursday, adding that earnings from AI accelerator products accounted for “close to a mid-teens percentage” of full earnings in 2024.

“Even after more than tripling in 2024, we forecast our revenue from AI accelerators to double in 2025 as a strong surge in AI-related demand continues as a key enabler of AI applications,” Wei added.

On the other hand, TSMC also can face some headwinds in 2025 from U.S. restrictions on developed semiconductor shipments to China and uncertainty surrounding the alternate coverage of President-elect Donald Trump.

Wei mentioned the firm is no longer going to inspire Trump’s inauguration as its philosophy is to retain a low profile, Reuters reported.

Trump, who will think workplace subsequent week, has threatened to impose mighty tariffs on imports and has previously accused Taiwan of “stealing” the U.S. chip alternate.

Mild, Counterpoint’s Wang forecasts 2025 to be every other mighty one year for TSMC, with critical earnings growth fueled by mighty and expanding request for AI applications, both in diversity and quantity.

Taiwan-listed shares of TSMC won 81% in 2024 and had been buying and selling 3.75% elevated on Thursday.

Stocks of European semiconductor firms buying and selling on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Switch rose Thursday, with ASML up 3.5%, ASM Global gaining 3.75% and Iron rising 5.1%.

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