TSMC Gains on Q2 Earnings, Revenue Beat Amid AI Chip Boom

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) American depositary receipts (ADRs) gained Thursday after the chipmaker reported second-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates amid surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

TSMC reported revenue 40% higher than the same time last year at 673.51 billion New Taiwan dollars ($20.62 billion), more than analysts had expected. Profits rose just over 36% year-over-year to NT$247.85 billion ($7.59 billion), exceeding estimates. On a per-share basis, TSMC earned NT$9.56 per share, or $1.48 per ADR, also beating projections.

TSMC Expects Strong Q3 Demand For AI, Smartphones

TSMC said it expects sales for the third quarter of between $22.4 billion and $23.2 billion, which would be growth of about 30% to 33% from the $17.28 billion TSMC reported last year.

“Our business in the second quarter was supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 3nm and 5nm technologies, partially offset by continued smartphone seasonality,” TSMC CFO Wendell Huang said. “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.”

TSMC ADRs were 2.4% higher at $171.20 as of 8:45 a.m. ET Thursday following the news, a day after TSMC and other chip stocks tumbled on worries about how tightening trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions could impact the semiconductor industry.