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The world’s biggest agreement chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday published better-than-expected earnings and income on the back of weaker macroeconomic conditions.
Here are TSMC’s fourth-quarter outcomes versus LSEG agreement price quotes:
- Revenue: 62553 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1962 billion), vs. NT$61831 billion anticipated
- Net earnings: NT$23871 billion, vs. NT$22522 billion anticipated
TSMC reported income slipped 1.5% from a year ago to NT$62553 billion, while earnings dropped 19.3% from a year ago to NT$23871 billion. That compares to TSMC’s assistance for fourth-quarter income in between $188 billion and $196 billion.
“In the 4th quarter, income increased 14.4% sequentially [from the third quarter], supported by the continued strong ramp of our industry-leading 3-nanometer innovation,” stated TSMC in its fourth-quarter incomes report.
TSMC counts Apple and Nvidia amongst its greatest customers. TSMC produces the most sophisticated processors discovered in Apple’s iPhones.
During the company’s incomes get in touch with Thursday, CEO C.C. Wei acknowledged that 2023 was a “challenging year for the global semiconductor industry” since of macroeconomic conditions and a stock modification cycle.
Chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have actually reported decreases in quarterly earnings due to a post-pandemic plunge in the need for customer electronic devices like smart devices and laptop computers. That led to smart device and PC makers facing excess stocks of chips.
But experts state chip stocks at smart device and PC makers are diminishing and anticipate restocking need to get.
Wei stated that in spite of the difficulties, the company was “well positioned to capture high performance computing-related growth opportunities” from the increasing development of generative AI applications in 2023.
“We expect 2024 to be a healthy growth year for TSMC, supported by continuous strong ramp-up of our industry-leading three nanometer technologies, strong demand for the five nanometer technologies and robust AI-related demand,” stated Wei.
TSMC anticipates first-quarter income to come in between $18 billion and $188 billion this year.
But he likewise flagged continuing macroeconomic headwinds that might weigh on customer belief and market need.
“TSMC’s strong ramp-up in N3 and AI applications positions it as a major beneficiary in AI semiconductors,” Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint Research, statedTuesday N3 describes TSMC’s most sophisticated node, which produces 3-nanometer chips.
“Nanometer” in chips describes the size of private transistors on a chip. The smaller sized the size of the transistor, the more of them can be loaded onto a single semiconductor. As such, smaller sized nanometer sizes normally yield more effective and effective chips.
“The anticipated surge in AI-based PC applications in 2024 underscores TSMC’s crucial role, solidifying its dominance and best positioning in providing sophisticated 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer technologies for AI-enhanced computing devices,” stated Wang in a note onJan 16.
TSMC presently produces 3-nanometer chips and strategies to begin 2-nanometer mass production by 2025.
