TSMC posts sixth straight record quarter – profit up almost 69 percent
The world's largest contract chipmaker earned 763 billion Taiwan dollars in the third quarter – more than expected. Demand for AI chips remains the driving force.
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Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC reported a record profit for the sixth quarter in a row on Thursday. Net profit for July to September came to 763.06 billion Taiwan dollars (around 23.59 billion US dollars), almost 69 percent above the prior-year figure. The LSEG SmartEstimate had forecast 746.3 billion Taiwan dollars. Revenue rose by almost 51 percent to 1.494 trillion Taiwan dollars, and by 41.2 percent to 46.72 billion in US dollar terms.
Margins are also exceptionally high: the gross margin reached 66.4 percent, the operating margin 58.7 percent and the net margin 51.1 percent. The most advanced manufacturing processes contribute a growing share: chips made with the 2-nanometre process already account for 8 percent of wafer revenue, 3 nanometres for 33 percent and 5 nanometres for 28 percent. Processes of 7 nanometres and below together make up 79 percent. TSMC's customers include Apple and Nvidia.
Demand for chips for artificial intelligence remains the growth driver – Dutch lithography specialist ASML sent similar signals earlier in the week. However, the figures come amid share price corrections for chip and AI stocks. For the fourth quarter, TSMC expects revenue of 52.3 to 54.3 billion US dollars, a gross margin of 65 to 67 percent and an operating margin of 56.5 to 58.5 percent.