TSMC, the world’s main producer of advanced AI chips and a major supplier to Nvidia, on Thursday posted a 35% jump in fourth-quarter profit to record levels that handily beat market forecasts on Thursday.
Benefiting from surging demand for advanced chips used in artificial intelligence applications, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said net profit for October-December climbed to T$505.7 billion ($16 billion), its seventh straight quarter of double-digit growth.
That was well ahead of a T$478.4 billion LSEG SmartEstimate drawn from 20 analysts. SmartEstimates are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.
Trump’s trade policies and threats to put tariffs on semiconductors have created much uncertainty for the global chip industry, though that uncertainty has yet to seriously impair surging profits on the back of the AI boom.
TSMC said capital spending last year hit $40.9 billion, versus a previous company forecast of $40-42 billion.
It announced plans for a $100 billion U.S. investment with Trump at the White House in March last year, on top of $65 billion pledged for three plants in the state of Arizona, one of which is up and running.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said in a podcast released last week the company was set to invest more in the country.
($1 = 31.5920 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee, Faith Hung and Yimou Lee)
