Chipmaker TSMC expects fourth-quarter profit to rise 58%

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), a global maker of advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications, is expected to report a 58% jump in fourth-quarter profit thanks to booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI).

The world’s largest contract chipmaker, whose customers include Apple and Nvidia, has benefited from the AI ​​trend. But the Taiwanese company is facing headwinds from the U.S. government’s technology restrictions on China and uncertainty over the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose broad import tariffs.

TSMC is expected to report a 58% jump in fourth-quarter profit thanks to booming demand for artificial intelligence.

TSMC is expected to report a net profit of NT$377.95 billion ($11.41 billion) for the quarter ending December 31, 2024, according to LSEG SmartEstimate. SmartEstimates gives greater weight to forecasts from the 22 most accurate analysts. This estimate equates to a net profit of NT$238.7 billion for the fourth quarter of 2023.

TSMC reported a surge in fourth-quarter revenue in Taiwan dollars last week, beating market expectations. The company will provide its outlook for dollar revenue when it reports quarterly earnings, scheduled for 0600 GMT this Thursday.

2025 will be a year where TSMC's growth will be largely driven by AI customers, said Brett Simpson, co-founder and senior analyst at Arete Research.

“From the US government ’s perspective, Arete is optimistic that TSMC can build a good relationship with the new administration, especially since their new manufacturing cluster in Arizona is the largest foreign direct investment project in the United States,” Arete said.

TSMC is the world's largest contract chipmaker.

TSMC has begun manufacturing advanced 4-nanometer chips in Arizona for U.S. customers, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said over the weekend. The U.S. government has previously provided $6.6 billion in funding to TSMC to boost the construction of its plant in the country, while the U.S. Commerce Department has also lobbied for a $5.5 billion concessional loan to the world’s largest contract chipmaker.

TSMC is spending billions of dollars on new factories overseas, including $65 billion for three plants in the US state of Arizona, although the company says most of its production will remain in Taiwan.

Progress at the Arizona plant and the plant's yield, or the percentage of chips that can be used, will be crucial for TSMC, said Edward Chen, president of Fubon Financial's equity investment unit.

TSMC, in its upcoming earnings report, will update its outlook for the current quarter as well as for the full year, including planned capital spending as it races to expand production.

In its most recent earnings report in October 2024, TSMC said capital spending was likely to be higher in 2025, but did not provide specific numbers.

However, the company forecasts capital spending in 2024 to be slightly higher than $30 billion.

The AI ​​boom has helped push TSMC's stock price up to become Asia's most valuable, with its Taipei-listed shares soaring 81% last year compared with a 28.5% gain for the broader market.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/nha-san-xuat-chip-tsmc-du-kien-loi-nhuan-quy-iv-tang-58-192250113150136933.htm