TSMC Quarterly Earnings Up 76%, Beat Market Estimates on Strong iPhone 13 Demand

Taiwan’s TSMC reported a 76.4% second-quarter profit growth on Thursday, its biggest earnings jump in eight quarters, handily beating market estimates thanks to rush demand for its chips amid a two-year global shortage. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer and a major supplier to Apple, said its April-June net profit rose to a record NT$237 billion (roughly Rs. 63,300 crore).

This beat Refinitiv’s 19-analyst average estimate of NT$219.13 billion.

The strong results highlight demand for Apple’s iPhone 13, which continues to sell well despite record global inflation and fears of a looming recession, as well as robust sales of high-performance computing (HPC) chips used in 5G networks and artificial intelligence.

Some chip makers, including Micron Technology, said recently that the tight chip market gave way to a glut within weeks after two years of huge pandemic-driven phone and laptop sales that triggered the crisis.

The shortage also hurt global automakers, who were forced to cut production.

TSMC, which also has major chip makers like Qualcomm among its customers, said in April that its chip manufacturing capacity will remain limited this year.

Revenue for the quarter rose 36.6% to $18.16 billion (roughly Rs. 145,100 crores), above the previous estimated range of $17.6 billion (roughly Rs. 140,600 crore) to $18.2 billion ( approximately Rs 1,45,400 crores). ).

TSMC shares are down about 23 percent this year, leaving the company with a market value of $408.3 billion (roughly Rs. 32,62,900 crore). Shares rose 1 percent on Thursday, compared with a 0.8 percent gain for the benchmark index.

© Thomson Reuters 2022